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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599642">Pink Lemonade</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nauticalcosmos/pseuds/nauticalcosmos'>nauticalcosmos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aaron &amp; Norah's Domestic Adventures [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotions, F/M, Fluff, Healthy and happy relationship growth, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, look I accidentally became obsessed with Hotch and there's not a lot of oc fanfic for him, so i wrote my own</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:08:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>76,135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599642</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nauticalcosmos/pseuds/nauticalcosmos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After helping the super hot FBI agent solve a bombing and then treat his son for a broken bone who could blame her for developing a little bit of a crush? Either way, Aaron Hotchner, and by extension Jack and his whole serial killer hunting team, kept popping up everywhere she looked. She was woman enough to admit that he was hot and she was definitely flirting. Something about him said that he was an excellent kisser and could probably fuck her nine ways to Sunday. Not to mention somewhere along the way she definitely fell in love with him.</p><p>A story of happy and healthy relationship development and growth.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aaron Hotchner/Original Female Character(s), Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/William LaMontagne Jr.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aaron &amp; Norah's Domestic Adventures [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2183220</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>179</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Look I accidentally became obsessed with Aaron Hotchner when I binged watched Criminal Minds during this godforsaken quarantine. And if I thought that one scene when they were in Alaska telling the dad to "sit down and shut up" was hot, who could blame me?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Being involved in a shooting when half of your job history was in covert affairs was difficult. She could be upfront about her employment with the CIA but beyond that she could not really divulge more specifics to people beyond her family. She had been in medical school when she was recruited and trained. Most of her jobs abroad dealt with human trafficking, asset collection, or drugs. Her drug work was the most interesting, as a lot of terror groups are funded through their drug sales. But after her marriage fell apart and her grandmother died, Norah felt like being home was the best place to be and put in for a furlough which eventually turned permanent. She worked as a full-time ER doctor now, though occasionally would teach field medicine to trainee agents at Langley. Within a month of her being back state side, though her international jobs had slowed down years ago and she had been employed at her hospital for multiple years at this point, she had been meeting a friend for lunch. One of her best friends from college, Jill, ended up as an FBI agent. Jill was giving her a tour when the friend had been shot from behind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Frankly, Norah didn’t remember much about the shooting, just pulling Jill around the corner for safety and grabbing her service weapon. She heard two agents trying to talk the gunman down, and when she peeked around the corner, they subtly shook their head signaling her to hold off, so she did. Keeping an ear out for the talking agents, she turned her attention to Jill. Thankfully her wound was a through and through, but she was still losing a lot of blood. She stripped off her sweater and placed it around her waist covering the two bullet holes. With Jill’s belt, she wrapped it tightly around her. Her friend was unconscious, which made her nervous but right now she couldn’t think about that. When she heard the voices crescendo, she peeked around the corner and saw that the gunman was having the two agents turn around. Not sparring another thought, she shot the man in the middle of his back, roughly where is heart would be. Once she was certain the two agents had the gunman under control she rushed back to Jill. After that all she remembered was giving Jill CPR and riding with her in the ambulance. That night the two agents from the shooting came by to see how Jill was and thank Norah for her actions. But had told her that she’d need to come in for an official statement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two weeks later and coming off of a 24-hour shift at the hospital that is what she was doing. She was still in her scrubs and had a large coffee in her hands. Even though she knew she should have been exhausted at the end of a 24-hour shift, but it hadn’t been super busy, and she was wired thinking about the statement. Depending on who was in charge of taking her statement she would have to be less than candor about her skills and how she acquired them. While she could tell them she was CIA, she couldn’t fully divulge how she learned how to shoot someone so well from nearly 40 yards away with a handgun. It wasn’t an impossible distance, so maybe they’d think she just got lucky. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had gone through security and was getting a visitor’s badge when she heard her name, “Norah? How are you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned around and saw JJ walking up to her with a huge smile on her face. Norah’s brain took a second to catch up. “JJ, how are you? I didn’t know you weren’t at State anymore.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I only heard whispers that you retired, I didn’t think they were true. Why are you here?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah laughed, “I needed a change of pace, so I am just a full-time doctor now. And I’m giving my statement about the shooting from a couple days ago. I was the one who shot the gunman.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What were you doing here?” JJ asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Meeting a friend for lunch actually,” laughed Norah. “Do you know where to find Agent Hotchner? I’m supposed to give him my statement.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Actually, yes. He’s my boss. A little stiff but won’t give you a hard time. He also has clearance,” JJ told her. Norah laughed, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, JJ. Once again saving my ass.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They briefly caught up while JJ showed her the way to Agent Hotchner’s office. As they walked into a large bullpen office, JJ pointed up to an office on the left most corner sat. Norah handed JJ her business card with her cell phone number scribbled on the back and left with the promise they would have a real catch up later. On her brief walk up to Agent Hotchner’s office she saw one of the men that had been talking to the gunman. He stopped her and thanked her again, although this time she learned his name, Agent Derek Morgan. She walked up and knocked on the slightly ajar office door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come in,” a gruff voice said. She walked in and the other agent from the shooting was sitting at the desk in front of her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Door open or shut?” she asked. Agent Hotchner looked up and stood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, shut. Sorry, Dr. Michaelson, I didn’t realize what time it was. Feel free to take a seat on the couch,” he told her. She nodded and sat on the slightly uncomfortable office couch. Her work backpack sat next to her as she fiddled with the strap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Agent Hotchner grabbed a folder and tape recorder then sat across from her. “You’re going to recount what happened that afternoon, sign an affidavit, and then you’ll be free to go.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will there be questions?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For clarification purposes only,” Agent Hotchner said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, carry on then Agent Hotchner,” Norah replied nodding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can call me Hotch, everyone does,” he replied. “Just start off with your name, spelling, and vocation.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hotch clicked the record button and sat it on the table between them. “My name is Dr. Norah Michaelson, N-o-r-a-h M-i-c-h-a-e-l-s-o-n. I’m an emergency room doctor at St. Mary’s Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dr. Michaelson, can you detail why you were at the FBI offices on the morning of Tuesday, January 18th?” Hotch asked looking down at the folder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just moved back to Virginia and my friend Jill is an agent here. We were meeting for lunch as she was showing me around the offices.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And when did you first know something was wrong?” he asked calmly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jill and I were talking about her job with White Collar and we had heard some scuffling and yelling, but it didn’t sound…concerning? For lack of a better word. So we kept on going, a few minutes after that we heard running and shouting, before we could react, Jill had been shot. I pulled her around the nearest corner and grabbed her service weapon.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what happened after that,” he prodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I looked around the corner and saw two agents trying to talk the man with the gun down. One of them, who I now know to be Agent Morgan shook his head at me, so I slid back behind the corner and tried to make sure Jill didn’t bleed out. I wrapped my sweater around her wound and tightened it with her belt, she was unconscious. I kept listening and glancing around the corner, waiting for a signal or something to indicate what I should do next. Right as the gunman made the two agents turn around, I stepped out from behind the corner and shot him once, center mass. The two agents grabbed his gun and then I went back to Jill. Everything after that is a blur, Jill stopped breathing so I was giving her CPR until the paramedics arrives and shocked her heart back to a normal rhythm with an AED.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you know the two agents prior to this encounter?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Had you fired a weapon at someone prior to this encounter?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I used to work for the CIA. I’m retired,” Norah answered. If she hadn’t been watching for it, she wouldn’t have seen the almost imperceptible raise of his eyebrows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long had you been inactive at the date of the encounter?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fully retired for about a month now, but I’ve been partially retired for about four years,” she answered him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what was the nature of your assignments,” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t answer that,” she replied. He nodded, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Understandable. And prior to the encounter, had you seen or heard of the gunman?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To be honest, I’m still not sure who he was. Someone told me he was a suspected terrorist, but his name wasn’t familiar, nor did he look familiar. As far as I know I never came across him during my previous employment.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, thank you Dr. Michaelson,” Hotch said ending the recording. He slid over an affidavit and a pen, “If you could sign this and I’ll get this transcribed shortly.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, sir.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Before you leave, Dr. Michaelson, I want to say something,” he said. She nodded and gestured for him to continue, “I owe you a great amount of gratitude for your actions. If you had not intervened, I would not have gone home to my son that night. There is not a lot I can do to repay you for that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah’s chest tightened, “There’s no need to thank me, but I’m glad you got to see your son.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Hotch could say anything more, JJ burst in and said, “We have a problem. Norah, this concerns you too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Puzzled the two of them followed JJ out into the bullpen where the news showed a middle school on fire. Hotch finally asked, “Is it the shooter’s group terror group?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Intelligence believes so,” JJ said. “They said it was in retaliation for his death. They want the name of the agent who shot him.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck,” muttered Norah. “I have to call…someone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hotch watched as she ran out into the hall with her cellphone attached to her ear. He looked back at JJ, “We can’t put her name out there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She needs to go into protective custody,” JJ told him. “I don’t know if she will, though.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The CIA might beat us to it,” Hotch sighed. “Get everyone in the round table, I’ll find Dr. Michaelson and we’ll game plan.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked out into the hallway and found her leaning up against the wall pinching the bridge of her nose. She was no longer on the phone, but he could tell she was exhausted. Her scrubs were wrinkled, and her shoulders hunched over. She had her hair pulled into a ponytail at the top of her head, but large sections had fallen out. He didn’t think she heard him approach, because she slid down to the floor putting her head between her knees. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel like I’m going to puke and pass out,” she told him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s normal,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Drugs,” she said. Before he could ask what that meant, she continued. “I worked on drug trafficking, because that’s how terrorist make money. It was all international, obviously, but some of my assets led to homegrown terror arrests. I lied earlier when I said I knew nothing about the gunman, well not a lie but it wasn’t the whole truth. I gave the FBI the intel for an arrest. I didn’t have any names, just a location in West Virginia. It wasn’t until Jill filled me in on what the situation was that I put two-and-two together. The only reason I’m telling you this is because JJ said you had clearance.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know JJ?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We ran into each other a few times when she was with the State Department. I trained her in interrogation, actually,” she laughed humorlessly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hotch was quite for a few seconds, “We need to read you into the situation and get a game plan. Have you called your supervisor?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she’s on her way. I texted my boss at the hospital to let him know that under no circumstance could anyone know I was involved with the event, even as Jill’s friend. He thinks it came from the FBI, so sorry about that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was a good call, you don’t want the wrong reporter to figure it out,” Hotch said. “Do you want anything? Water, coffee, I think I could find an apple or something.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah laughed, “I just came off of a 24-hour shift. I just want sleep, but I don’t think that is going to happen.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s not. My team is the best. We’ll figure out where they are and what to do,” he said. “But to do that, we need to be read into what you know.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t make that decision. Only my old supervisor can. I don’t doubt she will, but it is literally treason if I read you into anything without appropriate approval,” she sighed. She pulled her head up from her legs. “Is it my fault?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The bombing, all those kids that are dead. Am I responsible?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, the only people responsible are the terrorists,” he told her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she sighed, “I know. I guess I needed someone else to tell me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hotch stood and offered her his hand. She took it and he led her into the round table room where the other members of his team sat staring in horror at the screen playing the carnage. Dr. Michaelson looked sick, but he led her to a chair and sat her down. JJ handed her the water bottle from her bag. Garcia rushed in and handed out the folder of what was given to her and said, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The CIA sent these release forms over. They’re giving you clearance for a number of operations, including yours, Dr. Michaelson.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“CIA?” Morgan asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dr. Michaelson was a CIA operative until very recently. The shooting was a coincidence,” Hotch explained. They looked dubious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If the CIA wanted the shooter dead, they wouldn’t have sent me,” Dr. Michaelson said, finally speaking up. “There are specific people the CIA has, and they are much more discrete than I am.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, the gunman, Robert Kieran was an Irish national recruiting people for a white supremacy terror organization,” Morgan said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My last op, I was the one that found information that led to his identity,” she said. “Once you sign the forms, I can give you the details.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone sat down at the table and quickly signed the official forms. Hotch watched as Norah clutched her water bottle against her body, clearly uncomfortable with the day’s turn of events. Her knee was bouncing up and down and she was clearly trying to regulate her breathing. The terror attack shook everyone, but due to her close nature to the crime, she was especially affected. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Dr. Michaelson, what can you tell us?” Rossi asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just call me Norah,” she said. “When I was in med school the CIA recruited me. I speak a lot of languages and doctors as operatives can get into interesting places. The first few years out of school I did my residency in Belgium, they have a thriving human trafficking port that a lot of doctors utilize for body parts. Not every doctor there was a terrible person, but it’s such an egregious crime that it couldn’t last. During that time, I was cultivating different assets around Europe, especially Poland. Eventually, I moved there. My grandma was Polish, she settled in Texas in the 50’s after the Nazis killed her husband. I adopted her last name and worked at a free clinic while making connections for drug trafficking. In rural and undeveloped places, drugs run rampant and the way that terror organizations make their money is through drugs.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Studies have shown that the sale of opium from Afghanistan is a billion-dollar business,” Reid said. Norah nodded and continued,  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Opium is a big one, so are prescription drugs, like morphine. I had three or four assets who worked closely to a lot of white supremacy organizations that sold the drugs. The thing about assets is they all come with a different moral code, some line that they won’t cross. When you learn that line, you can figure out what they know and what they are willing to do to stop it. My contact, Carrick, was Irish mob and contracted out for a white supremacy organization in Poland called “Wolność na zawsze” or—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Freedom forever,” Spencer finished. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know polish?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Trochę,” he replied </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A little,” she scoffed, “you have a nearly perfect accent. My grandma, we called her ‘babcia’, had a kolache and donut shop growing up. She only spoke to us in Polish despite having learned English early on. Regardless, Carrick was only kinda a white supremacist, he thought that attacks against non-white people were sometimes acceptable, but none that impacted white people. He fed me a lot of information over the years on attacks against majority white targets. Including the location of Kieran. Carrick didn’t know Kieran’s real name only that he was known as the Butcher of Wexford and that he and some of the Polish supremacy group were in America planning an assault on local soft targets. I passed that information onto my network and a few weeks after that I retired and moved to Alexandria. I didn’t know they had made an arrest until after I shot Kieran. Jill—I mean Agent Laughlin—filled me in on the details.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you had no idea who the man was?” Morgan asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a clue. Even when you guys were talking to him the only thing, I noticed was that one of my best friends was bleeding out at my feet,” Norah said shrugging. “Most of the arrests the CIA makes aren’t arrests and I never hear any more about them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you tell anyone about the shooting?” JJ asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My boss at the hospital, I called in sick for my shift that night and told him I was involved in an altercation that morning. He’s smart, he probably figured it out. He may not know I was the shooter, but he probably knows I was involved,” she replied digging the heels of her hands into her eyes. “God this is a mess.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do they care so much?” Rossi asked. Norah looked up at him puzzled, “Why do they care so much about who killed him. If they were still able to carry out the attack, why do they care? Every terrorist knows they won’t live long. So what about the people involved in this make them so loyal.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah sat there for a moment, “Carrick told me that the Butcher had personal ties to Wolność na zawsze. I just assumed it was a cousin or relative, but that kind of loyalty isn’t common with the Irish mob.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Could it be romantic?” JJ asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything is possible, but white supremacy organization are normally exceedingly misogynistic, I really doubt any woman would be calling the shots.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A man maybe?” Rossi said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Homophobia is frowned on too,” Morgan supplied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A son,” Norah whispered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Hotch asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I always vet the intel of my sources to the best of my ability. Another asset told me that the Butcher’s connection to the organization was familial, but all the CIA and Interpol information said his family was Irish Mob, the only other explanation would be a son,” Norah explained. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is there a way to verify that information?” JJ asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no clue. It was relatively new a couple years ago. They operated in small, isolated groups and mainly focused on radicalizing in the US. I was some of the first information the CIA ever got. Interpol might have more, but I’m not sure.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll call Emily and see what she can turn up,” Morgan said standing and stepping outside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is there anything else that is important?” Hotch asked Norah. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s never just one attack,” she replied. “They always work in 3’s. They liked the religious symbolism of it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They don’t seem particularly religious,” Reid said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I guess not. Maybe superstitious is the better word,” Norah said. That’s the one thing Carrick always joked about. “Everything happens in threes.” Kinda creepy now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you in contact with any sources that could be helpful?” Rossi asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d have to go back to Poland to get in touch with most of them,” Norah replied. “Even then, I passed Carrick onto another operative. I can probably have my supervisor contact his new handler to see if there is any new information.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>JJ spoke up, “Why don’t I handle that. You’ll need to pack up some things to go into protective custody.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that’s fair. I’ll send you the number,” Norah nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can take you by your place to get some clothes, but we’ll need your help as the investigation develops. You’ll know things that we won’t,” Hotch said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’ll grab whatever I still have,” she agreed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An hour later, Norah and Hotch were walking up her gravel driveway to her secluded house outside of Alexandria. Her large dog, what looked like a German Shepard mutt, ran up to her and nearly mowed her down, “Hey Spoon. It’s good to see you too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Spoon?” Hotch asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The shelter named her, no matter how hard I tried she wouldn’t answer to anything else,” laughed Norah. “I’ll need to talk to the neighbors to see if they’ll feed her for the next few days.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about work?” Hotch asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just got off a 24-hour shift. I’m off for another three days. If we don’t find them by then…” Norah trailed off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We will,” Hotch said. Norah almost believed him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they arrived in the house, Norah went upstairs to shower and gather some of her things. Hotch looked around her downstairs. It was immaculately clean, which didn’t surprise him. Intelligence officers rely on knowing when someone has been in their living space, so they tend to keep a tidy place. The front door opened into a living room on the left and a staircase on the right. The living room had comfortable couches and a neutral color scheme. It looked directly into the open concept dining room and kitchen, with a bar separating the spaces. He assumed she ate most of her meals at the bar, as the dining room had been turned into a small office. There were three bookcases overflowing with medical books, non-fiction books, and fiction books. Most of the fiction books were mystery or fantasy. Yet her non-fiction readings were societal and political in nature. Her kitchen showed that she cooked from home and was exceedingly organized. Wandering back into the living room, he looked around and saw her medical school diplomas, pictures of friends and family. What really struck him were a few photos of her and another man with teenaged children in the frame. There was artwork framed and a letter hanging next to a teen girl’s picture. Hotch was reading it when he heard Norah head down the stairs, her dog following after her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My ex and I fostered children when we were together. Most of them got placed back with their families. Maggie was our first and longest. Her mom worked hard to get her life back together to get Maggie back. Even after Maggie went to go live with her, her mom invited me and Peter to everything she did. I went to her college graduation last year. She’s doing her master’s in counseling now,” Norah said walking up behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long ago did she live with you?” Hotch asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Seven or eight years probably,” Norah said. “We talk every week.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It must be good for her to know that so many people are supporting her,” Hotch replied. Norah chuckled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She was devastated when Peter and I split. I can’t imagine what real parents deal with during a divorce,” Norah replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are a real parent. Even if you aren’t the primary care giver,” Hotch replied. Norah didn’t reply. “Was the divorce amicable?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For the most part. We split three years ago after counseling didn’t work. I wasn’t around or responsive to his attempts to talk and he found solace in another woman. I understood, not that it makes it right. We tried to make it work after that. I took a long furlough and he cut ties with her, but sometimes things are too far gone and trust like that is hard to rebuild,” Norah said. “He lives in Canada with his new wife. We keep in touch sporadically and we see each other when we attend things for Maggie. He is a doctor too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand,” Hotch said. “Before my wife passed, she and I divorced. This job it is amazing and rewarding…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But kills everything.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They stood there looking at the picture for another minute before he asked, “Are you ready?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’ve texted my neighbor about Spoon. Their daughter loves her, so I’m not concerned. My house isn’t listed under my real name, so I doubt they’ll be in any danger. Let me grab my kit and we can leave.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kit?” Hotch asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All intelligence officers have them. Everyone calls them something different. It is all of the notes, identities and safe houses accrued during their active work.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s yours?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In the shed. Easy access, but not too easy. Also, not the first place someone would look.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hotch followed her out into her yard. It was a decent sized yard with property beyond her fence, there was a huge doghouse for Spoon that he ran to as soon as they went outside. Her shed was on the far side of her fenced in property. She unlocked it with a keypad. When they walked in, Hotch thought it looked like a normal shed. Norah unlocked the cabinet in the corner and moved the gardening equipment. There was a fake bottom that she pulled up. It held three large manila envelopes, which she grabbed and slid into her bag. Hotch made a mental note, because that was a very smart hiding place. He never would have thought to look there himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you adjust the cabinet yourself?” he asked as they walked back out to the SUV. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, my ex-father-in-law was a welder and taught me few things. Came is surprisingly handy more than once.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Welding?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know right,” she laughed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are you doing?” Hotch asked when they got back to the SUV. Norah sighed, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well enough. Stressed and anxious. Worried that if they find out who I am they’ll go after my family,” she replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right now you aren’t connected to the shooting other than being a friend of the victim. The CIA has done a great job burning your previous identities, so if they figure out Carrick was the leak the odds are that they won’t have your real name or picture,” he replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should I call Peter and let him know?” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not right now. That risks alerting more people to who the shooter actually was,” he told her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that’s understandable. God, I just wish there was something else I could do,” she told him </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When we get back to the office, I’ll have you look over the evidence and hopefully you’ll see a pattern we’ve missed. Did you bring your notes?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah they were in the manila envelopes,” she told him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hotch looked over at her. She had changed out of her scrubs into a sweatshirt and jeans. Instead of her hair being pulled back, she had taken a quick shower and braided it into two French braids down her back. She was fidgeting with the watch around her wrist. He noticed her doing that when he interviewed her earlier for her statement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Keiran’s death didn’t change anything,” Hotch finally said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” she asked looking at him, clearly zoned out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The group would have planted that bomb regardless. By blaming the shooter for their actions, they are just spreading fear. It will cause people to distrust the government and thus increase their desired impact: disorder.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They weren’t exactly mission oriented, were they?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Up until now it was small attacks against soft targets. They were always planning on blowing up that middle school. We had the bomb purchases and the blueprints, just not enough time to figure out where they belonged to.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The middle school was always the target?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“From what we could tell. Why?” Hotch asked, she seemed perturbed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Carrick told me that they were planning to attack multi-racial churches. He said Keiran got a kick out of the fear.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Assets aren’t always correct or perhaps he was lying,” Hotch suggested. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No he wasn’t lying. Which means they probably suspected Carrick was feeding information to somebody, but still gave him enough information to lead us to a member of their organization. Jill said Keiran was trying to escape when he began shooting?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he almost made it out too,” Hotch replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you bring up the multi-racial churches in the interrogation?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Agent Morgan did,” Hotch said. He saw now what she meant, “His arrest was a means to flush out the mole. Getting as far as he did with the escape, we assumed he had a partner on the inside and benched everybody involved with the investigation which is why the BAU officially took over.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did anyone view the interrogation tapes or watch the interrogation?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No one, we chose Saturday morning for that reason. There was no one else in the vicinity. You and Jill showing up was a fluke. A fluke that ruined their plan,” he realized. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That means his partner probably doesn’t know which person was the mole. They’ll be looking for that information, so we find the mole and we’ll find the organization,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did Carrick tell you anything about someone in the government?” Hotch asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Carrick talked a lot, half of what he said was drunken gibberish. But I wrote down everything he said though. When we get back, I can start going through everything,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll have Reid help you. He’s a quick reader.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My notes are encrypted, so I’ll have to be the one to show him how to read them before hand,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s a fast learner.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the two of them walked back into the bullpen an older woman immediately whisked Norah away. JJ relayed that it was her old supervisor. Ten minutes later Norah returned, Maggie, the supervisor, was nowhere to be seen. He discovered that she was updating Norah on Carrick. He had been taken into custody by Interpol a week ago on unrelated arms trading charges. It meant he was safe and out of harm’s way. Hotch could see how relieved Norah was at that discovery. Handlers knew that their assets were always in danger, but it did not mean they didn’t care what happened to them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reid,” Hotch called. Immediately the man was next to him. “Help Norah go through her notes, they might shed light on who the mole in the FBI is. Meanwhile I’m going to have Garcia doing background checks on anyone that was even somewhat connected to the Keiran case. We’ll compare notes in a couple hours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually the two of them came back to him and Reid hurriedly explained the complex encryption system Norah had set up. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Hotch would have let him ramble on; Reid being impressed by someone was few and far between. Despite outward appearances, he had a certain fondness for kid, especially since the case with the LDSK. He explained that Carrick had mentioned a “guard” looking man with a narrow scar on his cheek and a thick southern accent visiting Kieran at the pub they frequented. It wasn’t mentioned in tandem with substantive intel, so Norah never took much notice of it. But as soon as Reid read him the description, he knew exactly who it was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Reid, grab Morgan and JJ then come with me. Norah, stay out of sight until we come get you,” we only have one chance to get this right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah watched at the three agents disappeared beyond the double glass doors. She knew they were going to use her as the catalyst for an emotional response; that’s how she would play it. While she waited, Norah continued to pour over her notes from Carrick about the man. He was motivated by greed mainly, but Carrick thought he was a wannabe Irish mobster. At one point during their meetings, she noticed that Carrick describe anyone with too much bravado as trying to be a mobster. His shorthand for too much masculinity always amused her and she once again found herself grateful he was out of harm’s way. While he had done terrible things, he had some moral code and that deserved a modicum of her respect even if others didn’t agree. Her ex certainly did not. Nearly an hour later, Hotch was back in office, looking much more tired than when he left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His name is Austin Reynolds. He admitted to being their inside man, but refuses to do anything else than spout nationalistic language,” he sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did Agent Morgan question him too?” Norah asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” he replied, “Did Carrick give you anything that might help us.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe. Carrick thought he was too masculine,” she told him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand,” Hotch replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Carrick was a typical Irish mobster. You hold onto your feelings and then one day you’ll die, type of person. Anyone he thought was putting up a front, he always said they were wannabe mobsters. He noticed Reynolds overcompensation. We know that white nationalists hate black people and think women are beneath them, and if he’s overcompensating for his masculinity it reasons that he must feel insecure,” she explained. “If I were trying to get information from him, I’d play up my polish roots and lull him into being ‘in charge’ until I am able to provide an emotional stressor.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And what would the stressor be?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d have to look at his life. Do you have his personnel file?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Hotch said handing her a thin file from his desk. “Garcia is scouring his social media, but there’s not much there.” </span>
</p><p> <span>Norah glanced through the file and found a mention of an ex-wife, “Have her look at the ex-wife. I’ll bet that’s a sore spot for him.” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Norah stood on the other side of the glass watch Morgan get in his face and ask about the other planned attacks. Whenever Morgan left time for him to answer, he only replied with the Polish mission statement of the terror group he worked for. There wasn’t a lot in his history that signified he hand any polish ancestry, but she had been over there long enough to see some of the Americans who desperately wanted a culture to call their own and claimed Poland as their homeland. Once they determined his blood pressure was sufficiently raised, Morgan abruptly left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s your game plan?” he asked coming out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Make him feel insecure,” she replied. “He’s desperate to be a man. So I am going to show him he’s not.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I really doubt he speaks any amount of fluent polish, whereas I do. But even then, he is desperate to be above women so I’ll play up my CIA importance,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well you look the part,” he replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I figured this dress was a better bet than my jeans and med school sweatshirt,” she laughed. “In a couple minutes, I’m going to pretend to yell at you and then you’ll open the door for me. Don’t look at me, but don’t look at the ground either. Looking at the ground will make it look fake.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that something the CIA taught you?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but they really should.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grabbed his file and slid on the heels borrowed from JJ. They were a little small, but since she wasn’t exactly standing or walking for long, she would manage. Hotch walked in with the blueprints Garcia found for the middle school and took the file from her. Everything planned and staged to look like Norah was the most important person in the room. Glancing at her watch, she figured he had waited long enough. Morgan gave her a thumbs up with the barest hint of grin and she started yelling. They had to stand close to the door otherwise Reynolds wouldn’t have heard them. When finished, Norah nodded to him and Morgan opened the door for her, not looking at the ground, but not at her. She squared her shoulders and looked directly at Reynolds, while Hotch followed in behind her. Sitting down, she gestured for Hotch to put the materials on the table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then she looked at Reynolds and greeted him in Polish. He responded in a rough syntax, clearly from lack of conversational use. Keeping the polish language, she asked, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you know who I am?” He shook his head. He could understand more that she guessed, but clearly couldn’t respond in turn. “I am the only person keeping these agents from throwing you in a dark hole and throwing away the key. Do you understand.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In English, Reynolds replied, “What do you want?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She kept the Polish, “I thought you worked for a Polish led terror group. Shouldn’t you know the language?” When he didn’t reply she followed with, “Hmm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reynolds watched as she spread out the blueprints to the middle school. From behind her Hotch handed her the crime scene photos from the morning. Then she sat back and waited for Reynolds to say something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want? And speak English this time, bitch.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah raised an eyebrow, and in English said, “I thought you idolized the wolność na zawsze. Interesting for you to have such contempt for their language. Surely you communicated with them in some way. Did they have to translate for you?” She asked allowing the barest edge of a mocking tone leak through. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They valued my contribution regardless of what language it was in,” he replied shortly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh I’m sure. Just like I’m sure they never talked about you in Polish. I certainly wouldn’t,” Norah replied. “They’re definitely loyal, that’s why they’ve killed the last five of their lieutenants when they were in jail.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They were snitches,” he hissed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, of course they were. And you think that you’re any safer than Polish speaking lieutenants who actually carry out the plans instead of just feed them information. I mean, they were boots on the ground and you’re a Fed. You don’t think they have a plan if you…snitch?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would never,” he growled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve had agents and assets in their organization for the few years they’ve been active, and we had almost every member named…except you. Which is weird, because if you’re so important you would have thought that Kieran or his son would have talked about you to someone,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m new,” he protested, sounding significantly less sure of himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? Because our last intel sweep was from a few months ago. I mean that’s how we caught Kieran and through his phone records we found you,” Norah told him looking at his personnel file. “I see you’ve been passed over for promotion in the FBI four times.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Freedom Forever, saw that and appreciated me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah hummed noncommittally, “Middle of the road in your high school graduation class, you finished your degree, but no specialization or master’s degree to speak of. You had an average run in the Dalllas PD when you jumped to Dallas FBI. Who took pity on you? These aren’t exactly FBI quality scores.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I worked hard to get where I am!” He exclaimed. Norah could see his seams slowly ripping apart. It wouldn’t take much more to break him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? And where is that? In an FBI interrogation room, about to be sentenced to a lifetime in jail for a group wherein you’d always be the outsider? Face it Reynolds, you were expendable. We already found the prison guard that had orders to kill you during arraignment. Do you know what I found out when I called Dallas PD? They removed you from duty because your ex-wife divorced you after you put her in the hospital. You failed in your marriage. You failed in Dallas. You failed as an FBI agent. And you’re failing right now to be a terrorist. Even the terror group sees that, which is why they want to kill you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Failing?” He roared jumping up. “I’m not failing! I was instrumental in planning that middle school attack!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right and I’ll bet they had you wrapped up as the fall guy. I doubt you have any information that could even help us. I think we’re just wasting our time on a waste of space.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re not done with you! Do you think the middle school was the only other soft target they had? Maybe they weren’t done with the middle school just yet. Maybe I gave them the idea to hide out in the boonies and to hit the victims a second time!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah stared at him as he realized what he gave away. “Hmm, so they are in your cabin out in West Vriginia. You thought it was skillful to put that in your wife’s maiden name, right? And hitting them a second time could only mean two things: police stations and hospitals.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” he protested, weakly, “Why would they go after hospitals!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, so it is hospitals. This was never about Kieran’s killer. This was about distracting us until they could place their bomb in the hospitals,” Norah replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Two birds,” he hissed. “That bitch nurse will be called in to deal with the victims and when she is, she’ll die in the blasts. You’re too late.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah smiled humorlessly and without sparing him a second glance, walked out of the interrogation room with Hotch directly behind her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There are three hospitals that the victims would have been sent to: St. James, St. Mary’s and Mount Vernon. Easily accessible soft targets would be the oxygen storage rooms and the boiler rooms in the basement,” Norah rattled off to Morgan when the door shut. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll alert local PD and our teams on the ground. Good work, Michaelson,” he said as he walked out the door. “Can’t believe the CIA let you go.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah sagged against the wall as the adrenaline wore off and the weight of being awake for over 36 hours and dealing with a terror attack. Hotch had immediately called someone when they left the room and when he hung up, he walked over to her and said, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve done good work; we’ll find the bombs and agents are surrounding the cabin as we speak.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she sighed. “This is not how I saw my Monday morning going,” she told him “God I haven’t slept since Saturday.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Use my office and catch up on some rest. We’ll let you know when we have a development.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sleeping,” she replied. “I can’t.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He smiled at her grimly, “I understand. Why don’t you wait in Garcia’s office? She’ll be receiving information as we learn things. If you think of anything useful, she’ll get it to us.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Later that night, as Norah sat in Garcia’s brightly decorated office, back in her jeans and sweatshirt, she heard the sound off from each hospital as the bombs were found. Morgan had just called that they found the plans in the cabin for three explosives at the three hospitals. They had arrested almost the whole US organization members with Interpol making arrests in Poland, Ireland, and Belgium. The stress of the morning had finally hit Norah, so when she heard everyone was safe an accounted for, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she closed the door and locked it, she allowed herself to cry for a minute. This wasn’t her first terror attack by a longshot, but it was the one she was closest to. The drug trafficking she was used to dealing with had absolutely nothing on the stress and guilt of this. When she felt more composed and splashed water on her face to try and hide that she had been crying, she walked back out into the BAU offices. Hotch and his team were just arriving. Morgan had a small scratch above his eye, but everyone else looked fine. Norah snuck behind everyone and quietly knocked on Hotch’s door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His back was to her, but he said, “Come in.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi, just came to grab my stuff and head out,” she replied. He didn’t turn around but nodded. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it was just a close call,” he replied finally easing around. He had a nasty black eye and was holding his side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit, are you okay?” Norah asked immediately going into doctor mode. “Can you breathe well? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Paramedics already checked me out. Ribs are bruised is all. I had a small run in with a terrorist. He got it worse.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He got is worse?” She repeated disbelievingly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, he’s dead,” Hotch replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good point. Are you sure you’re good?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m going to go home and hug my son and then go to bed,” he said lightly chuckling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want a ride or something?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rossi is taking me. It’s on his way,” Hotch said. “Dr. Michaelson, thank you for your help today. I imagine there will be more paperwork from the CIA, but the FBI requires nothing else from you. Although they may use that interrogation tape for training. That was skillful.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you. Have a good day, Hotch.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You too, Dr. Michaelson.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been well over a month since the terror attack and Norah was at the end of her shift. It had been a long day and she had changed her scrubs twice. One of her first cases had been a car accident and she had spent an hour trying to keep a woman and her child from bleeding out in front of her. Then one of her resident’s had given a patient the wrong dose of oxycodone and sent him into an overdose; when he was revived naloxone, he had vomited all over her and her scrubs. Thankfully she had time to rise off and replace her scrubs before the next wave of sick and injured patients rushed into the ER. The shifts were about to change, and Norah only had one more patient before she would finish her charting and head out. Her favorite charge nurse, Bethany, handed her the chart and said, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dad’s kinda cute but like in a secret agent kind of way.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Secret agent?” Norah asked grinning. Bethany shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look when my child wants to watch 007 and it gives me two hours of blissful silence, I will deal with whatever nonsense it does to my psyche,” she said. “Dad and son are in room 4, looks like a broken arm but Annie said his ribs could be bruised too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Norah said as wrapped her stethoscope around her neck and pulled the pen hung on her scrubs’ pocket out. She scanned the chart and saw the patient’s name was Jack. Walking into the room, still looking at the chart she said, “Hi there Jack, my name is Dr. Michaelson. Annie says you have a broken arm?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah looked up and to her surprise saw Agent Hotchner and an eleven-year-old boy sitting in front of her. Hotch also looked startled to see her. “Nice to see you again, Dr. Michaelson,” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You as well, Agent Hotchner,” she laughed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you show Dr. Michaelson where your arm hurts?” Hotch said. His son nodded and unhid the arm he was cradling against his body. It was easy to tell the limb was broken, but she was going to need an x-ray to see how bad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Jack, your arm is definitely broken. So, we’ll be getting you an x-ray tonight. But before we do that, can you wiggle your fingers for me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded and gingerly wiggled his fingers, “I can’t straighten out my arm all the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, that can be caused by the pain of the break, but can I touch your arm to see if you hurt the tendons or ligaments real fast?” she asked him. He nodded. “Okay, I’m going to wash my hands.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After she washed her hands, she went through her physical examination, explaining everything to Jack while she did it. She noticed that Hotch had moved so he was next to his son, who had a vice grip on his dad’s hand. Once she had finished, she sat back down on the rolling stool and said, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay Jack. I am going to take you and your dad down to our x-ray room, but before I do that I’m going to give you a shot which will numb your arm. If I had to guess you have what’s called a displaced fracture on your ulna. That just means that the bone moved and is pushing up against your nerves, which is probably why you can’t straighten it all the way.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” he said quietly. “But I don’t like needles.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to know a secret?” she whispered. He nodded. “I don’t either. They used to make me want to throw up and I’m a doctor.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how do you give shots?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I practiced a lot,” she said as she prepared the local anesthetic. She grabbed the shot kit and rolled up his sleeve. “But one of my teachers in medical school taught me a trick, that when I chew gum it distracts my brain and I can’t think about the shot.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you have gum, dad?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t buddy,” he replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I might,” she said pulling out a pack of gum from her scrubs. “Sometimes I chew gum after I deal with something gross, so I always have some on me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After handing the pack to Hotch, who dispensed it out to his son, Norah continued talking, “So Jack, I heard you did this playing soccer. What position do you play?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was cleaning the skin with the alcohol wipe as he spoke. She pinched and released the skin a few times before making sure Jack was thoroughly distracted with the gum and his story before quickly giving him the shot and tossing the needle in the trash. She placed the band aid on his arm and said, “All right, we’re done.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You already gave me the shot?” he asked surprised. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yup, they don’t give out doctor degrees to just anybody, you know,” she replied. “Are you ready to get that x-ray?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is my dad going with me?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” she said. “He can stay in the room if you want, but your dad can absolutely come with you to get your arm x-rayed.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to come?” He asked. Jack nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, one of the nurses will be back in a minute to grab you both and then when we get the x-ray I’ll come give you the news. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thirty minutes later, Norah was looking at the x-ray with the orthopedic attending she paged. Dr. Harrington was one of her favorite doctors at the hospital. He had a warm presence and was always willing to go to bat for his patients. He also established the first black doctor mentor program in the state. Frankly, he was one of the best doctors at the hospital and she was thrilled that he was on shift tonight. Once they got the x-ray back, it looked like it was going to need surgery. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You already gave him the local?” Harrington asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he’s only eleven and afraid of needles, so I wanted to make sure you thought it needed surgery before I brought it up,” she sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His dad is the guy that made sure our hospital didn’t blow up?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, he’s an FBI agent,” she replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, we’re going to try our best to make sure his son gets out of here without surgery. I’ll go in there and do the reduction. We’ll put on a temporary cast and reevaluate in two weeks,” he decided. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great, I’ll grab the stuff for the temp cast,” she told him.  A few minutes later she knocked on their door and the two of them walked in. Jack was playing a game on a phone and Hotch looked up, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s typically not good news when the doctors double,” he replied. Norah chuckled, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Agent Hotchner and Jack, this is Dr. Harrington, he’s an orthopedic surgeon and he is going to set the break in your arm.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Jack,” he said to the little boy. “Dr. Michaelson has already numbed your arm, right? I’m going to put the bone in place and explain what are steps are when we’re done okay? Why don’t you tell me about that game you were playing?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Jack explained his game, Norah went about preparing the temporary cast. She could feel Hotch’s anxiety from the other side of the room. It was an astute observation about bring in another doctor, but she would tell him it was because the hospital felt somewhat indebted to him. Once the break had been reducted, Norah went about putting the temporary cast on while Harrington explained that the arm might need surgery but that he was optimistic the cast and reduction would help mitigate that chance. Jack was only kind of listening but became very nervous when surgery was mentioned. Norah tried to reassure him, but she could understand why that would make him anxious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to write you a prescription for a pain killer, and an anti-inflammatory steroid,” she told them. “We’re going to do our best to make sure that you won’t need surgery, but do your best not to use your arm, okay? That means no soccer for the next couple weeks.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Jack said sadly. Harrington gave Hotch his card so he could make an appointment for a couple weeks down the line and left. “Dr. Michaelson?” Jack asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah Jack?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I have surgery can you do it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t actually. Certain doctors go through specialized training to do surgeries like this, and I don’t have that training. I’d probably make it worse. That’s why Dr. Harrington is here. He is my favorite doctor ever. He would do a much better job than I would. But if it comes to that, I can make sure I’m with you until you go into the surgery room, okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess,” he replied sullenly.  Norah hid a smile when she turned around. Once she had called his prescription into his pharmacy, she handed Hotch her card. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. This hospital and I owe you a lot for a few weeks ago. Trust me when I say that you and Jack will have the VIP treatment for the rest of your lives,” Norah told him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” he breathed, seemingly relieved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, young Mr. Hotchner, you are good to go. Get some sleep and food and we’ll see you in a couple of weeks.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you going home soon?” Jack asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am, I still have some work to finish up with, but you are my last patient of the day,” she said helping him off the table. “My plan is to hang out with my dog and probably have ice cream.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we get ice cream dad?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Way ahead of you bud. Aunt Jessica is already picking some up for you,” he told his son. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess breaking my arm wasn’t so bad,” he determined making Norah laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Later that night, Norah was sitting on her porch as her dog tried to herd the chicken around their coop. She was listening to a random podcast while she ate. It was a peaceful night, exactly what she wanted after a really stressful and exhausting day. Once she cleaned up her kitchen, she had plans to take a shower and go to bed. Thankfully she had the next day off, but that was not always a guarantee she would get the next day off. When the sun disappeared behind the tree line, she locked up the chickens and called her dog back into the house. With the kitchen clean and her shower finished she pulled on her ragged leggings and med school sweatshirt, but before she sank into bed her work phone rang. She had half a mind to let it ring, but she cleared her throat and summoned her doctor voice, “Dr. Michaelson.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dr. Michaelson, hi, this is Aaron Hotcher, uh—Agent Hotchner. I know that it’s late, but Jack is complaining about his arm and it’s really warm to the touch. Could it be infected?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is he running a fever?” she asked waking up marginally. She heard walking on the other end of the phone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no fever. His arm is red though,” Hotch said. “I’m sorry to bother, but this is his first injury and I feel a little out of my depth.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Agent Hotchner,” she started. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I called you really late at night, so feel free to call me Aaron,” he replied apologetically. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah held back her laugh, “Call me Norah, then. Aaron, I don’t think Jack’s arm is infected. But make an appointment with his primary care doctor tomorrow if you’re concerned. The main symptoms are fevers, chills and vomiting. Redness and warmth of the injured limb is normal.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard Aaron sigh in relief, “I’m so sorry for wasting your time then.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better safe than sorry,” she told him. “I would much rather have proactive parents, trust me. Give him the anti-inflammatory if you haven’t already and make sure you ice the arm. If the swelling and redness hasn’t gone down in the next few days, make an appointment with Jack’s doctor.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay. Thank you so much,” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No problem at all,” she said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“One last question for you,” he said. “How will know if it’s infected?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She chuckled, “Aaron, when it’s infected you won’t be calling me at 10:30 to ask. Jack will be so ill, and you’ll know. But also, broken bones rarely get infected. I’m pretty certain it’s less than 1%.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah heard him release a slow breath on the other end. “Thank you, I feel like I owe you a lot right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, well you saved my job. So I’ll call it even,” she replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Norah.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good night, Aaron.” </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After that late-night call, Norah didn’t hear from Aaron again. She would be lying to say she wasn’t disappointed. She wanted to know how Jack was doing, and frankly she wanted to talk to him. She was woman enough to admit that he was exceptionally hot and, depending on his feelings, would have been willing to do just about anything with him. Regardless, some things weren’t meant to be. Although, she and JJ managed to reconnect and when time permitted, they would kick box together and once in a while they would have dinner together. As the next three weeks passed, Norah found herself working the early morning shifts, coming into the hospital around 4:30am to start her rounds. Unfortunately, she and JJ had stayed out until past midnight, which meant she was operating on three hours of sleep.</span>
</p>
<p> <span>“I’m an idiot Bethany,” moaned Norah laying her head on the cool desktop. She thanked every deity she could name that the ER was relatively empty. She knew as the sun rose that would change, but for now she would lay still and hope to god that the hangover would abate. “Is it unethical for me to IV myself with fluids?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yes,” Bethany laughed. “Did you drink the Gatorade and take the Tylenol?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, but I still feel like I’m going to barf if I move the wrong way. I cannot believe JJ convinced me to get drunk,” Norah moaned, looking up feebly at Bethany. “I never get drunk.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“You have about ten more minutes to feel bad until we get another influx of patients,” she said, dropping a stack of tests next to Norah’s head.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Thanks Bethany.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Bethany’s patient radar was spot on. As soon as Norah’s ten minutes were up, the emergency line rang and Norah picked it up. “St. Mary’s Emergency Room, Dr. Michaelson speaking.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Five car pile-up on the beltway. Worst is heading your way. Eta five minutes,” said the paramedic.</span></p>
<p> <span>“We’ll triage in the bay,” she replied. Norah made the overhead announcement and grabbed the trauma cart with the other residents on duty. As their attending, she was responsible for giving jobs. Most of the time residents called them out, but she knew at least two of the residents were pretty new. After she assigned everyone their jobs, she pulled on her gloves and got to work, her hangover long forgotten.</span></p>
<p> <span>The first patient she tried to stabilize had a long piece of metal sticking out of her chest. Immediately she had a nurse call up to trauma surgery and have them prepare. In the meantime, she started a central line and blood transfusions. The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties and was conscious, a good sign. “Hi there, my name is Dr. Michaelson. We are going to make sure you’re stabilized and then we’re going to get you up to surgery okay?” She said over the ruckus of the trauma room. “Can you tell me your name?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Miranda,” she wheezed. “Greggs.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Good to meet you Miranda, are you having trouble breathing?” Norah asked as she put her stethoscope to her chest. One of her lungs had collapsed under the trauma of the metal puncture. It looked like she had a windshield wiper sticking out of her chest. To the nurse she said, “Get me a chest tube. Okay Miranda, I’m going to numb this area of your chest and I’m going to put a tube through it, so you can breathe okay? Stay with me right now.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Stabilizing Miranda kept her busy for the next forty-five minutes until trauma took her up to surgery. She was the most critical by far. After she finished, she began making her rounds to residents with the most critical cases. Most of them were doing great. A few had gotten pale but were pushing through. She jumped in when a patient’s blood pressure crashed, and his heart stopped. Immediately Norah called for a crash cart. She had the resident bag the patient while she began chest compressions. The resident with the paddles yelled clear, so Norah threw her arms out of the way and yelled, “Clear!” For the next 27 minutes they tried to revive the patient, but his heart never started again.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’m calling it. Time of death at 6:47am,” Norah said. “Anyone know if his family is in the waiting room?”</span></p>
<p> <span>Harry, one of the best nurses on shift said, “His wife came in with minimal wounds. She’s in bed four. His name is Carter James.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Okay, thanks Harry. Get the tubes out of him, she’ll want to see him,” Norah sighed. She pointed at the resident who was only in his first year, “Come with me to do the notification. You’ll have to do them a lot around here.”</span></p>
<p> <span>When she and the new resident stepped out of the trauma room, Norah leaned up against the wall. The resident, whose name she couldn’t remember for the life of her said, “Do you normally go for that long?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“It depends. Sometimes you just know that they aren’t coming back, but I really thought that guy had a chance. Our bodies aren’t machines and they don’t always work out the way we want them to,” she sighed. “Sorry, I just have to catch my breath before I let her know. You’ll have some that make you want to cry and scream, but most of the time they make you tired.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Those seem like the worse,” he commented leaning up against the wall with her.</span></p>
<p> <span>“They are,” she nodded. “When we go in, I’ll introduce myself then you introduce yourself. I’ll tell her the news. Tell me why you think he died.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Hypotension due to internal bleeding. He had significant bruising on his abdomen which indicated a rupture of his spleen and other gastroenteric organs. Unfortunately, he coded before we could get him stable and up to surgery,” he told her.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Good, don’t use doctor language, but tell her that and let her be angry and upset. I’ll take whatever blame she dishes out this time, but you’ll have to grow a thick skin and get used to it,” she told him standing back up.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Okay, let's go let Mrs. James know,” he said.</span></p>
<p> <span>The two of them walked to curtain four and slid into the closeted section. The woman sitting on the table was in her mid-50s. She looked like she was on her way to work for the day. Her wrist had a brace on it, and she was cradling it against her chest. It didn’t look like she was in the same car accident her husband had been in at all.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Mrs. James?” Norah asked. “I’m Dr. Michaelson.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’m Dr. Yarema,” the resident said. Norah filed that away for later.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yes, do you have news about Carter?” she asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yes ma’am, we do. Your husband came in with severe internal bleeding. His pressure dropped drastically, and we weren’t able to stabilize him. He passed away.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Wh-what?” she asked, her eyes welling with tears. “What did you do? Did you do everything?”</span></p>
<p> <span>Yarema stepped forward and said, “Yes ma’am. We tried to stop as much bleeding as we could and gave him multiple transfusions. Unfortunately, he had bled out so much inside his body, we couldn’t get his pressure back up and his heart started again.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“But he was talking to me, in the ambulance!” she shouted, beginning to sound hysterical.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Can we call anyone for you, Mrs. James?” Norah asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“No, our daughter lives in Boston. She’s a senior at Harvard,” she sniffed. “Can…can I see him?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yes ma’am, we can page our chaplain or grief counselor as well,” suggested Yarema. Norah nodded, that was a good call.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Can you page the chaplain? I’m also going to text our pastor,” she sniffed through her tears.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Dr. Yarema, will you page the chaplain? If you tell Dr. Yarema your church’s name, the chaplain will contact him for you,” Norah told her. Through her tears, Mrs. James told Yarema her church name and he walked off to page the chaplain. Norah led her through the emergency room. They were still dealing with the pile up, but most of the critical patients had been wheeled into surgery already. Norah stopped in front of the door, “Are you sure you want to see him?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yes. I have to,” she replied. Norah nodded and opened the door. The orderlies had cleared out most of the equipment. Due to his internal bleeding, there wasn’t a lot of blood in the room for which Norah was grateful. Mrs. James let out a heartbreaking sound that made Norah’s whole chest clench.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Can you tell me what you guys did?” she asked, staring at her husband. Gingerly she touched his face.</span></p>
<p> <span>“When the ambulance brought him in, then Dr. Yarema assessed your husband’s injuries. His heart was beating too fast and his stomach had severe bruising from the internal bleeding. The first thing Dr. Yarema did was start a blood transfusion and push medication that would stabilize the blood pressure. I finished with my previous patient at that time, and then came in to help. Pretty soon after that your husband's blood pressure dropped drastically. So we gave him more blood and a shot of epinephrine. His heart stopped and I started chest compressions while Dr. Yarema put a breathing bag on your husband. The nurse called a code and we gave him chest compressions and shocked his heart alternating for about 30 minutes.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“How did you know?” she whispered.</span></p>
<p> <span>“How did I know what?” she asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“That he wasn’t coming back?” she sobbed. She leaned over her husband’s body and cried.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Do you want the technical answer, or do you want the experience one?” Norah asked softly, rubbing her back.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Both,” she cried.</span></p>
<p> <span>“After 30 minutes of codding there is less than a 1% chance that a patient’s heart will start on their own. But I’ve been doing this for a really long time, and I could just tell,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Did you do everything?” she asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah sighed, “Dr. Yarema and I did everything we were trained to do. Sometimes we can do everything correctly and it still not work. But if you’re concerned, we can send him off for an autopsy.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Mrs. James was quiet for a moment, “No, no I know you did everything you could.”</span></p>
<p> <span>The chaplain eased the door open and said, “Mrs. James? I’m Chaplain Vicks, can I take you to the bereavement room now or would you like some more time? I’ve called Father Greggory and he is on his way now.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I want some more time,” she sniffled. Norah nodded,</span></p>
<p> <span>“I need to continue seeing patients, but if you have any questions let Chaplain Vicks now and he’ll get into contact with me or Dr. Yarema,” Norah said softly. Mrs. James did not reply, and Norah didn’t expect her to. The chaplain gave her shoulder a squeeze as she walked past him.</span></p>
<p> <span>With a heavy heart and misty eyes, she walked back out to the charge desk. Bethany was handing out assignments and saw her, “Did you lose him?”</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah nodded, “It was so sudden. Yarema did everything right, too. Which makes it worse. I’ve seen some shit, some really terrible middle of a warzone in Eastern Europe shit, but the senselessness of a car accident killing someone without any effort never hurts less.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Do you need a minute?” Bethany asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’ll take one later. Who is next?”</span></p>
<p> <span>For the next three hours, Norah went from patient to patient. Half were from the morning’s car crash, but she dealt with everything from chest pain to drug addicts. Once security removed the most recent drug addict, she put in for her thirty-minute break. Normally, Norah would grab her meal to eat, but after the death of Mr. James, her stomach hadn’t settled. Once she clocked out, she walked across the hospital to her favorite courtyard. It was never full this early in the day. Dr. Harrington had shown it to her during her first month. She had felt like she was drowning, and he was the one to notice and show her the private reprieve few knew of. It overlooked a small garden and had some chairs under a patio. As soon as she stepped outside, she felt her stomach revolt and anything she had in her stomach was expelled out next to the roses. She wasn’t sure if this was the remaining hangover, Miranda or Mr. James. Either way, she stayed on her hands and knees until she heard the door to the courtyard open. Immediately she straightened up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She stayed sitting on the grass though, at the moment she wasn’t sure her legs would work.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Norah?” a familiar voice asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Fuck,” she whispered, but turned around and saw Aaron in a pull-over sweater and jeans. Her mind immediately thought, </span><em><span>he’s still hot</span></em><span>. She groaned internally. As much as she tried, she didn’t have it in her to smile, but at a normal volume asked, “Is Jack okay?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh, yeah. I thought Dr. Harrington told you. Jack ended up having to have the surgery. He said that now he wanted to be a doctor he could go into surgery by himself. I think my son loves you.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Despite her morning so far, she managed a chuckle. “He’s a brave boy.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Behind her, she heard him walk towards her. Part of her wanted him to leave so she could mope in peace and hopefully not see the vomit sitting in the flower bed five feet to her left. Thankfully, he sat down on her right, “Are you on break?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah. It’s been a long shift,” she replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied. “Is this where you come to be alone? Because I can leave.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“No, don’t worry about it. I only have another ten minutes on my break anyways,” she said fully laying down in the grass. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the sun’s warmth on her face. “This is my favorite courtyard. It has flowers and grass, which is surprisingly uncommon in a hospital, allergies and all that.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Dr. Harrington told me to wait here, that it would help me not worry too much about Jack,” he replied. “Little does he know I never stop worrying.”</span></p>
<p> <span>The tips of Norah’s lips turned up and she felt Aaron’s worried eyes on her. “I’m normally not so emo, I promise. It’s just been a hell of a few hours.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“You already see terrible shit in your job. You don’t need the terrible shit I see,” she replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, but I don’t think I’ve ever dry heaved for ten minutes after dealing with my job,” he replied. Ah, he had seen her keeled over by the flowers. As she processed his words, she eased an eye open to look at him disbelievingly. “You’re right, that’s a lie. Serial killers are pretty fucked up, but I know how useful airing it out is.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Did you hear about the 5-car pile up on the beltway?” she asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I think it ended up being closer to twelve,” he replied. She blew a harsh breath out.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Well that explains a lot. I saw a thirty-year-old woman come in with what looked like a windshield wiper stuck through her abdomen. It took nearly an hour to stabilize her and she was conscious the whole time. Which meant that on top of thinking about how to get her stable and into surgery, I was also talking to her and trying to keep her calm. As soon as she got wheeled into surgery, I was called to a code on a man I had seen thirty second earlier talking like everything was fine. I called his death thirty minutes later and had to tell his wife, who barely had a scratch on her. She wanted to see his body and when she did, she let out this sound that I will never forget for the rest of my life,” Norah said. She wanted to say more but she felt tears welling up in her eyes; she did not know Aaron Hotchner well enough to cry in front of him.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’m so sorry,” he replied. And it sounded like he meant it.</span></p>
<p> <span>For the rest of her break, she laid in the grass in silence until her watch sounded the alarm that she had to get back to work. When she opened her eyes, Aaron was offering her a hand up. She took it and even though she felt drained, the break was a good one. Still emotionally raw, she didn’t offer much of a goodbye other than saying, “Dr. Harrington is the best. Jack is going to be just fine.”</span></p>
<p> <span>As soon as she stepped back in the ER, she forgot about Aaron Hotchner and Mrs. James and even the headache that was building in her left eye. Nearly five hours later, she was admitting her last patient. He had a bad fall and was going to need more than the stitches she put above his eye. It looked like he needed surgery to keep his shattered ribs from puncturing his lung. She and Bethany rolled him up to the orthopedic surgery unit and passed him off to Dr. Harrington and his residents. Norah was explaining the injuries when she saw Jack out of the corner of her eye. He was frantically waving at her, so once she was finished with the admission, she stepped into Jack’s room. Aaron was asleep next to the bed and Jack was looking weary but no worse for the wear.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Is that Jack Hotchner my favorite patient?” she whispered, not wanting to wake his dad.</span></p>
<p> <span>“They put screws in my arm,” he whisper-yelled.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Does that mean you’re Iron Man?” she asked walking up to his bed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“No, I can’t fire lasers from the screws,” he scoffed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh right, silly me,” she replied. “I heard you were really brave when you went into surgery today.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I want to be a doctor when I grow up now,” he announced, forgoing the premise of quiet. She saw Aaron open his eyes and rub them.</span></p>
<p> <span>“What kind of doctor? Do you want to be like Dr. Harrington?” she asked him.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Nah, there are too many bones,” he declared making Norah chuckle. “I want to be an ER doctor.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah did her best to keep her face blank. Her bad day was not something Jack needed right now, “Well, I hate to break it to you, but I have to know all the bones too. I just don’t do surgery on them.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“What doctor doesn’t need to know all the bones then?” He asked. Norah snorted and Aaron spoke up,</span></p>
<p> <span>“Buddy all doctors need to know the bones.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I guess I’ll have to learn then,” he sighed, making Norah chuckle.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Well, I’m glad to see your surgery went well, but I need to go finish my shift and head home okay?” she said, patting his leg.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Do you work tomorrow?” Jack asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Nope, but I work on Monday,” she replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“You should come hang out with me! I’ll be here until like Wednesday,” he sighed dramatically. She looked over at Aaron who nodded.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, I can come see you, then,” she told him. Jack grinned but she could tell he was getting sleepy. “You should take a nap. The more you sleep the faster you’ll heal.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“You’re not my doctor anymore,” he yawned.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Have a good night, Jack,” she laughed. Aaron got up to follow her out, and when he’d shut the door,</span></p>
<p> <span>“Thank you for humoring him. Hospitals have always freaked him out and you were the first doctor who made him feel safe.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“As much as I would like to say it’s my job, I think it might be Jack. He’s a pretty charismatic little kid.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“You’re telling me. He has half the nurses wrapped around his finger,” Aaron laughed. “They brought him two jello cups for lunch.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“That sounds about right. And look about this morning,” she started. He held up his hand to cut her off,</span></p>
<p> <span>“Norah, you don’t need to say anything. You had a rough morning. A really rough morning. And it is increasingly clear that we won’t stop running into each other, so friends?” he asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah smiled, “Absolutely. You know I invite all my friends to my house for a barbeque in April. Consider you and Jack invited. JJ, Will, and Henry will be there too.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“That sounds great. Send me the information and I’ll do my best to make sure there’s not a case,” he chuckled.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah might have sped away from Aaron. While she was content with the friendship of one Aaron Hotchner, she still recognized he was attractive. If she wanted to be his friend though, she desperately needed to get laid. When she was back down in the ER, she spent the rest of the afternoon charting and looking over test results. At the end of their shift, Norah and Bethany trudged out of the ER bay.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Tacos?” Bethany asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Please,” Norah replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>The two of them headed to their favorite taco stand. They ordered and sat in the back of Norah’s opened SUV overlooking the Potomac River. It was a cool March evening and Norah was finally able to relax, for the first time in hours her shoulders weren’t hunched up next to her ears. Bethany had been chatting about her son and how co-parenting with his father had been going. Listening to her talk did more for Norah than anything she could do on her own. Eventually, Bethany would pull out the photos and that’s when Norah would begin to feel human again.</span></p>
<p> <span>“So, did you hear from that hunky FBI agent again?” Bethany asked after they spent a good amount of time coo-ing over her adorable two-year-old.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah snorted, “Well, his son had surgery today and Harrington sent him out to the Rose Garden about the same time I was puking my guts out after Cater James died.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh my god,” Bethany said, horrified, “What did you do?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Prayed that he didn’t see me have an emotional breakdown in a mostly empty courtyard,” Norah said sipping on the soda she’d purchased from the Taco truck.</span></p>
<p> <span>“And did he?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh yeah. But I ran into him later up in ortho and he asked to be friends,” she sighed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Isn’t that a good thing? You said his son really liked you,” Bethany replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I don’t kind of want to fuck the super-secret FBI agent Aaron Hotchner,” she groaned. “I invited them to the barbeque in April.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“That’s a good move. Look either way you have a new friend, or it leads to something more. You could a fuck buddy, kind of thing. That’s what I did,” her friend suggested.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, but now you’re co-parenting with a plastic surgeon,” Norah replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Not everything life throws at us is going to be glamorous. At least he has money,” Bethany mumbled, making Norah laugh.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah but I have money.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“You also have a failed marriage,” Bethany pointed out.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Ouch, and not my fault,” Norah grumbled.</span></p>
<p> <span>“You were gallivanting off in Europe doing battlefield medicine basically, and he cheated on you. That’s rough, I won’t lie, but you divorced four years ago. It’s time to fuck someone else,” Bethany urged. Norah groaned.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Don’t let this go to your head,” she started, “but you’re right. Maybe if I date someone, I’ll get it out of my system and—”</span></p>
<p> <span>Bethany cut her off, “And get dicked down hard. Maybe have an orgasm from something other than your vibrator.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’ve had sex since I got divorced, oh my god,” Norah moaned.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah that guy you went to high school with who was a captain in the Marines was a weird two weeks for you. Thankfully you’re better now even though you clearly have a power kink.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Nothing wrong with wanting a powerful man,” Norah defended. “I spent most of my life making sure men like that were afraid of me, so it’s a little hard to find someone I won’t scare away with my long hours and spooky house in the middle of nowhere Virginia.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“You didn’t say anything about the Marine Captain,” Bethany pointed out.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, well you weren’t wrong,” huffed Norah. Bethany grinned about her victory.</span></p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Norah’s shifts were waterfalling this week, starting earlier and earlier until she was at a normal human time by the end of the week. She got to work a little before midnight, and clocked in. Before she did anything, she texted Aaron asking what time she should drop by; he told her breakfast was at 9:00 and Jack would be awake then. Once she had her coat on and a stethoscope, she got to work. Sundays were either the busiest day of their week or their quietest. Tonight, was busy, but unlike her previous shift, the most difficult thing she dealt with was a man the cops brought in who was coming down from PCP, they brought him in around 8 in the morning, which meant that she would be dealing with him for the rest of her shift. PCP was never a good drug to be on, but it looked like this man nearly overdosed. Once she managed to get him sedated and restrained, she went about doing her physical examination. He had less bruising than she was expecting, but documented everything anyways. She made sure that she had notated that he shouldn’t have access to sharp objects or narcotics. Even though she needed a medical history, the man was out and frankly she needed him to stay that way. Unfortunately, that meant her only source of information was the cop trying to flirt with her every other word.</span>
</p>
<p> <span>“When do you get off, Doctor?” he asked, getting a little too close to her.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Depends,” she replied not looking up at him. She turned her back blocking him out of her personal space. She would never wish for a medical emergency, but she was pretty damn close.</span></p>
<p> <span>“On me?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“No, on how many people want to die tonight,” she replied, making intentional and direct eye contact with him. “Less people dying means more paperwork for me.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Cold,” he replied, “Kinda hot though.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh my god,” she muttered leaving the room. She slammed her stethoscope on the nurse’s station and exclaimed, “Anyone has my permission to stab Officer Horny over there with a scalpel should the opportunity arise.” </span></p>
<p> <span>“Sounds like you’ve had an interesting night,” a dry voice commented from behind her. She spun around and saw Aaron standing in front of her looking amused.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’ve had worse nights. I thought I was coming by around 9?” she asked looking at her watch which said 8:20.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Honestly? I got restless and kind of got lost while I was walking around,” he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Let me deal with a patient real fast and I can walk you back up there. Why don’t you wait here?” she asked. Bethany was staring her down as she said this. “And before she kills me, this is my friend and the best nurse ever, Bethany.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re pretty hot for a cop,” she said grinning.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh. my god,” Norah exclaimed. “I’m going to deal with Officer Horny and PCP Punk. Can you get Henry to pull blood? I don’t want a female nurse to go in there.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Bethany typed something into the computer, “Got it, Mikes. Should I send Agent Hunk after you if you don’t come out?” she whispered in front of the amused Aaron.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Not unless you want him to arrest me,” she said sweetly, “Because I might be committing murder.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Kinky,” Bethany replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’ll be right back,” she told Aaron.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Unless there’s murdering?” he asked innocently. She tried to scowl at him, but it was clear she was hiding a smile.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah walked back into the room where her least favorite patient took up residence. She checked his stats and his urine bag. Everything seemed normal and she slid his chart back on the door. As she was about to walk out, Officer Horny blocked her path and said, “After I drop him off at the county jail, I could swing back by and we can see if you’re feisty in the bedroom too.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I spent a large portion of my career treating people in warzones and you manage to make that seem more appealing than sleeping with you. Now move,” she said, drawing herself up to her full height. She wasn’t a short woman and after her past, she sure as hell wasn’t afraid of some beat cop who drew the short straw and took it out on female doctors.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Whatever bitch,” he grumbled, moving aside. She walked out the door and made her way back to Aaron.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, we’re partnering up for that room from now on. Especially when the patient wakes up,” she told Bethany. “Not even Henry should go in alone.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, I got it. I’ll put the partner note up on their door,” Bethany said.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Nah, I’ll walk by it again. I can do it,” Norah said grabbing the innocuous laminated picture they tape to the door.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Why is it a picture of dancing?” Aaron asked as they walked back through the ER.</span></p>
<p> <span>“You need a partner to dance. Doesn’t tip anyone off,” she replied. With a practiced ease, she taped the picture to the door when they walked by. He wasn’t even sure anyone but him noticed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Do you guys use it often?” he asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah shrugged, “Once or twice a week. Typically, it’s for any criminal that comes in that might be violent. Rarely do cops get the honor.”     </span></p>
<p> <span>Norah spent a few minutes in Jack’s room before she was called away on an urgent page, but she managed to smuggle him one last jello cup before she left.  Aaron once again found himself highly intrigued by the doctor. She was tough and caring and very real all wrapped up into one. She was also very cute and funny and managed to make scrubs look good. Jack liked her which was a nice bonus, too. If everything wasn’t so crazy he might have asked her out instead of asking her to be friends.</span></p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>After Jack got out of the hospital, Aaron would occasionally text her about how he was doing and the occasional question he had. But the chief ER attending at her hospital quit suddenly and she found herself working closer to five shifts a week instead of the normal three. Frankly, she hadn’t realized how radio silent she went until she got a call from JJ asking her where she had been for the last few weeks,</span>
</p>
<p> <span>“What do you mean? I’ve been at home, working, and I sold some of my chicken’s eggs at the farmer’s market last week,” she said.</span></p>
<p> <span>“You normally text me a couple times a day, I was just checking in to make sure you were all good,” she replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Wait really?” she asked. “God, one of the other ER attendings quit suddenly, so I’ve had to pick up more shifts than usual. I haven’t had time to do anything except stay alive I guess?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Why don’t you and I grab lunch the next day you have off? We won’t have cases for another few days,” she said.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah smiled, “You’re a good friend making sure I’m not working myself to the bone.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Well, to be honest, scheduling this does the same for me,” JJ laughed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“My next day off is the day after tomorrow,” she told her friend, “We can meet somewhere near your office?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Actually, could I bother you for a ride? My car is in the shop and Reid is picking me up for work,” JJ said.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Absolutely, I’ll happily pick you up,” laughed Norah.</span></p>
<p> <span>Two days later, she pulled back up to the FBI offices trying to ignore the feelings that came rearing their ugly heads. The last time she was here a terrorist blew up a middle school and the time before that she shot someone. And despite the glamorous imagery of a CIA operative, she had never actually shot someone to kill them before. If she was doing her job right, there was never a need for guns. She swallowed and took a deep breath. Throughout most of her time in the CIA she saw a therapist; it was all but a requirement for her job. She learned how to deal with the trauma she experienced by breathing, identifying, and rubbing the face of her watch. The temperature of the metal helped her keep her head. When she felt her heart rate calm down, she stepped out of her car and went to find JJ.</span></p>
<p> <span>She found her desk easily, but JJ wasn’t around. Pulling out her phone, she texted her friend that she had arrived and went to sit down at her friend’s desk. It was a Thursday around 12:30 in the afternoon, but the FBI bullpen was close to empty. There were a few agents running around, most which paid her no mind. She felt a little out of place in her ripped jeans and loose-fitting blouse, but thankfully JJ texted her and said that she had been held up a meeting with the team. JJ didn’t give her a timeframe, but because she didn’t cancel that meant she didn’t think it would be too much longer. Normally she would have gone to see Jill, but she had transferred to New York after the shooting. It made her sad that one of her best friends from college moved away, but most of their friendship had been spent in different areas of the country. They were adept at Facetime dates. During their post-college years there had actually been four of them: Jill, Grace, and Lucas. The four of them had all been in a political science class together and bonded over their shared hatred of the dumbass college republican that Norah and Grace would pick fights with. After college they managed to stay in touch decently well. Grace went on to work at a marketing firm while Lucas and Jill both went into the FBI and she went to med school. It was a wonder Norah and Jill made it work for so long.</span></p>
<p> <span>Perhaps because she was thinking about him, Norah looked up from her phone and thought she saw Lucas a few desks away. Surely not though, because what were the odds of that? But the more she watched him out of the corner of her eye, the more positive she became. It wasn’t until she heard him answer the phone that she knew. Lucas, like her, was raised in Texas and unlike her retained a thick southern accent. Once he hung up the phone she stood and walked over to him.</span></p>
<p> <span>“As I live and breathe, the great Lucas Carr,” she said grinning. He looked up startled and then his face split into a grin.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Holy shit, Norah?” he asked standing. He captured her in a huge bone-crushing hug that she returned. “How have you been? What have you been up to? Why are you here?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“So many questions,” she laughed. “I’ve been mostly good. I’m a doctor in Alexandria, now. And I’m pretty good friends with Agent Jareau and I’m picking her up for lunch.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh yeah, I heard they’re in an oversight meeting. No one is jealous of them right now,” he said. “I think the last time I saw you was at your wedding. How’s Peter?”</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah laughed awkwardly, “Um, no longer married to me. We divorced about four years ago.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Oh, I’m so sorry I brought it up,” he said sheepishly.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Don’t worry about it at all, it’s not like I sent out announcements or anything,” she replied. “What about you and Abby?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah, we ended as well. I’m engaged though. She’s a captain in the Army,” he said.</span></p>
<p> <span>“That’s so great to hear. Do you have a picture?” she asked. Lucas showed her a picture. “Oh my god. Y’all are adorable.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?” he asked, settling back into his office chair while she perched herself on her desk.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I dated a guy a few months ago, but he took a job in Boston. I’ve met a guy I’d be interested in, but we are both married to our jobs, so I’m not sure anything would come of it,” she replied. “I’m in the running for the chief ER attending at my hospital, too.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“That’s great though,” he told her. “And honestly? Annie and I started dating because she took a chance on me despite our jobs. I’d say go for it.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Very wise there for a meathead football player,” she laughed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I haven’t been a meathead football player in like fifteen years,” he replied pushing her knee.</span></p>
<p> <span>“So, what about how, how’d you end up here?” she asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’m on loan to Quanitico from DC. I’m on a sex trafficking taskforce and it’s headquartered here,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but we’ve gotten some good leads.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“That’s exactly what you wanted to do in college,” she said smiling.       </span></p>
<p> <span>“Well you clearly ended up where you wanted. Don’t sell yourself short,” he told her.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Ah, but I thought I wanted to be a surgeon. I’m in trauma and emergency medicine now,” she laughed.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Why the switch?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Honestly? I got bored watching surgeries. I couldn’t imagine trying to stand still for so long. Emergency medicine is fast and makes me think on my feet a lot. I teach field medicine too which is way more fun than surgery could ever be.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“You know, the FBI is looking to host a field medic training here. I heard one of my supervisors talking about it,” he told her. “I’ll bet I could find a way to get your name on the list if it isn’t already.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“I’m sure much more accomplished doctors than I are on that list, but what hell. If you can get my name on there, I’ll buy you </span><em><span>and</span></em><span> Annie dinner.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Well you can afford it on your fancy doctor salary,” he told her. Her phone buzzed on her lap; it was JJ telling her she was on her way.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Ah, JJ is out. Do you still have the same number? Because we should catch up again,” she told him.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah it’s the same. This was a great surprise, Norah,” he said standing. When they were friends he wasn’t huge on physical affection, but before she left he gave her another hug.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Agent Carr?” a stern voice sounded behind Norah. “Do you have those files I asked for?”</span></p>
<p> <span>Lucas let her go and reached behind her on his desk, “Here you go Agent Hotchner, is there anything else I can get for you?”</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah spun around and saw Aaron behind her. He had a stern, unsmiling look on his face, very different from how she was used to seeing him. He didn’t make eye contact with her, instead looked down at the files, “No these are adequate. Thank you.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Hmm, adequate,” Lucas said after he was out of ear shot. “Although, that’s cheery for Agent Hotchner.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Really?” she asked. “Every time I’ve encountered him, he’s been very kind and warm.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Interesting, where have you encountered him?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“A couple of times here and once or twice at my hospital. His son broke his arm and I treated him,” Norah said. She left out the part where he saw her vomit after a mass car crash hit her ER.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Maybe he just likes you more than me,” Lucas shrugged, unphased.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Well, I’m going to go find JJ. Don’t forget to respond to my text. I will never forgive you if I don’t meet Annie,” she told him as she walked away.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Yeah yeah,” he replied waving her off, but when she looked back, he was smiling.</span></p>
<p> <span>JJ walked up to her with her coat and asked, “How do you know Agent Carr?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“We were really good friends in college actually. We lost touch when I went abroad,” she told her. “How was your meeting?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Ended up going pretty well, why?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Aaron was in it, right?” Norah asked. JJ nodded. “He just seemed…severe when he talked to Lucas. He didn’t even say anything to me.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Odd,” JJ commented, but by the look on her face JJ knew what was going on.</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah waited until they were out of the bullpen and in the empty elevator before looking at her friend, “You know what’s going on. Is it something I should be worried about?”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Probably not, but he asked about you the other day. It’s kind of why I reached out,” JJ replied.</span></p>
<p> <span>“What do you mean, asked about me?” Norah inquired.</span></p>
<p> <span>“Well, he said that he’s texted you a few times and hadn’t heard anything back. He just wanted to see if I’ve heard from you.”</span></p>
<p> <span>She pulled out her phone and saw that she had only reacted to one message and completely ignored the last two. Oops. “Yikes, guess I really did lose my head there for a minute.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Is there something up between you two?” she asked.</span></p>
<p> <span>“He asked if I wanted to be friends,” she replied. “Earlier that morning he saw me puke my guts out after losing a patient.”</span></p>
<p> <span>“Wow,” JJ nodded. “That’s…something.”</span></p>
<p> <span>Norah knew JJ was holding something back, but wasn’t exactly sure she wanted to delve into what her friend was thinking.</span></p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rossi watched as Hotch called Agent Carr into his office. He had walked in with Hotch from the meeting to see the doctor his friend had been talking to in a tight embrace with another agent. Frankly Rossi wasn’t sure what Hotch was planning to do as he walked over to them, but ask for files, ignore Dr. Michaelson, and leave wasn’t it. However, a few minutes after she and JJ walked out, Hotch had called that agent into his office. If asked later, he would deny this, but he slid his office chair closer to their shared wall to try and overhear what was being said. Most was muffled but it sounded like Hotch was chastising the loaner agent for displaying PDA in the workplace. Rossi couldn’t hear his response, but saw the agent walk out pinching the bridge of his nose. With a slow pace, he walked into his friend’s office and shut the door.</span>
</p><p> <span>“So, what was that about?” he drawled, sitting in front of his friend. He slowly crossed his leg; if he was going for dramatic, he might as well lean in.</span></p><p> <span>“Just letting Agent Carr know that this FBI office does not appreciate PDA in the middle of a workplace,” he said, not looking up from his paperwork. Rossi hummed unconvinced. “Is there something you need, Dave?”</span></p><p> <span>“If you like Dr. Michaelson so much, you should have asked her out instead of asking her to be friends,” he told him. “Maybe then you wouldn’t have scolded a grown man you don’t technically have authority over.”</span></p><p> <span>“Dave, I am really busy with paperwork and I—” Hotch started, but Dave cut him off.</span></p><p> <span>“You like her. Hell, if I were twenty years younger, I would have gone for her too…well maybe thirty years,” he chuckled. “There’s no shame in asking.”</span></p><p> <span>“Jack really likes her,” Hotch said. “I don’t want to make anything uncomfortable.”</span></p><p> <span>“You’re right. Jack always comes first, but don’t let him become an excuse to close your heart off. You deserve to be happy and to have fun with someone who doesn’t work here,” he said standing.</span></p><p> <span>“I should probably apologize to Agent Carr, then?” Hotch asked.</span></p><p> <span>“You don’t need my answer to that,” Rossi told him. Hotch sighed and walked out with Rossi, but walked over to apologize to Agent Carr.</span></p><p> <span>Hotch saw JJ walk back in a few minutes later with drinks for everyone on the team. Behind her, Norah followed with a single beverage in her hand. He felt and later denied feeling, a jolt of electricity running up his spine when she headed for his office. He dutifully pretended to not be watching her outside his office window when she knocked,</span></p><p> <span>“Come in,” he said staring blankly at the reports in front of him.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey Aaron, I have an iced coffee from the café JJ and I went to. I also have an apology,” she said. He looked up at her puzzled.</span></p><p> <span>“An apology?” She handed him the drink and he tried not to think about brushing against her hand as he took it.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I went really radio silent on you for the past two weeks and I wanted to apologize. The Chief ER attending quit suddenly and we scrambled to make up for it. This is the first day off I’ve had in awhile, regardless I should have let you know instead of ignoring you—which I promise was not my intention,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“You don’t have to apologize, Norah. Life happens,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah it does, but you still apologize if you hurt someone accidentally. And based on the way that you were desperately trying not to make eye contact with me earlier I have a feeling I might have hurt your feelings.”</span></p><p> <span>He winced. Instead of denying her words he said, “I was not at my best earlier.”</span></p><p> <span>“Lucas and I are old friends from college,” she told him. “We haven’t seen each other in years. I accidentally acquired a lot of friends in the FBI.”</span></p><p> <span>Something in his chest eased when she said that. “Thank you for the coffee.”</span></p><p> <span>“JJ said she hadn’t ever seen you drink iced coffee, but the café is famous for it,” she said smiling. He felt himself unwind and return her smile. He took a sip and said,</span></p><p> <span>“It is very good.”</span></p><p> <span>She nodded, “Oh I know, I’m just glad you agree.”</span></p><p> <span>He laughed and asked, “Have you guys found a new Chief ER attending yet?”</span></p><p> <span>“Um, maybe. They might be promoting me. I’m interviewing tomorrow actually,” she said. “It would be a pay raise and more regular hours, but more responsibility.”</span></p><p> <span>“What would the job entail?” he asked while sipping on the coffee. She was right, it was very good.</span></p><p> <span>“Personnel choices mainly. I’ll be assigning shifts with our HR coordinator and I’ll be responsible for creating a quarterly budget. Doesn’t mean we’ll get that budget, but I get to advocate for as much as I can get.”</span></p><p> <span>“That sounds like an amazing opportunity,” he said. “You’re a great doctor. Jack and I will both be character references.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah grinned and said, “I have a lot of ideas and desires, so I hope I get it. Speaking of, I was actually going to text you about this, but I figured since I’m here I’d tell you in person.”</span></p><p> <span>He smiled, despite himself at the idea that she really wasn’t ignoring him, and actually had plans to text him.</span></p><p> <span>“Once every few months the hospital hosts a CPR and first aid class. If Jack is still thinking he wants to be a doctor he should sign up. Yours truly might be one of the instructors. Oh! And if you need that certification you can sign up, too,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“How much is the cost?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Ah, for my favorite patient? It’s free,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“Norah, I can pay—” he started to protest.</span></p><p> <span>“Let me do something nice for you and Jack, Aaron. I make a doctor’s salary and really don’t do much with it. I take care of my dogs, chickens, and goats, but that’s not the same as doing something nice for real humans,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“You have goats?” he asked coyly.</span></p><p> <span>“Yes,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Okay, sign Jack and I up. But don’t tell him you have goats. He will ask to see them and won’t stop until you cave,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t let Jack meet my goats. Almost all of them are friendly,” she replied. “Harold is not. He likes to eat whatever I’m wearing.”</span></p><p> <span>He tried to swallow the dirty joke, just on the edge of his tongue.</span></p><p> <span>“Out with it. I know what you’re thinking,” she sighed with an exasperated smile on her face.</span></p><p> <span>“I am in a workplace,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Ah,” she scoffed, “Weak. I’ll just say it then. Although by the look of that blush on your face, your heart may burst.”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, taking a drink of his coffee.</span></p><p> <span>“Uh-huh,” she replied smiling.</span></p><p> <span>“And uh, I appreciate you coming to let me know what happened. I’m glad you weren’t…uh…”</span></p><p> <span>“Ignoring you?” she finished.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Aaron, you’re hard to forget, much less ignore,” she told him. Before he could respond, although he’s not sure he had one, she continued, “I have to get going, but it was good to see you. I’ll get you the information tonight.”</span></p><p> <span>“Thank you, uh, for the coffee that is.”</span></p><p> <span>“Always, Aaron.”</span></p><p> <span>Oh, he was so fucked. And he had a feeling she knew it too.</span></p><p>
  <span>Two days before the CPR training, Hotch received an email from the compliance office, requesting two members from each field team complete field medic training. The thirty-hour course was split over four days. JJ immediately asked to attend, she had a strange twinkle in her eye when she did. She also suggested he complete it as well. Morgan was not a medic kind of guy; Reid was too nervous, and Rossi would complain about his “old joints”. She had a point, but she seemed very nefarious about it. Despite his suspicions, he signed up for. It would keep him at home for a long weekend which meant he could see Jack. There was a quiet voice at the back of his brain that whispered Norah’s name, but he ignored that. They were working a case and he didn’t need any distractions.</span>
</p><p> <span>Except an hour later when he and Reid were standing in the ME’s office, he found that his distraction might be helpful to the case. They were puzzled about a medication the victims were all taking, and the ME didn’t have a clue. When Reid was stumped, he knew that he would have to make a call. Part of Hotch was worried that she was at work and wouldn’t answer her phone and a larger part worried she would. He excused himself into the hall and dialed her number.</span></p><p> <span>“Dr. Michaelson,” she answered. She sounded faraway or absentminded.</span></p><p> <span>“Norah, hi, it’s Aaron. Are you busy? I have a question for you,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Give me just one second, I’m trying to track down an escaped chicken,” she told him breathlessly. He heard some distance clucking and a triumphant, “Fuck you bitch, I won!”</span></p><p> <span>He laughed at that and when she came back on the phone he asked, “Fuck you bitch I won?”</span></p><p> <span>“Look, I don’t know how to convey to you, what a bitch of a situation she caused me. I am allowed to be excited. Was that your question? Making fun of me?” she asked, but he could hear the smile in her voice.</span></p><p> <span>“No, actually it’s about a case I’m on. We have victims that all have the same concoction of medication in them. The M.E. doesn’t recognize it, but I was hoping that you might,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah sure, read them out to me. If I don’t know them, I can do a couple of searches and probably find out. I’ll bet I have access to medical libraries the M.E. doesn’t,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“I can actually have the M.E. send you the list. Will you text me your email address?” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Absolutely, can they send me the whole findings or is that confidential?” she inquired.</span></p><p> <span>“I think the whole findings would be fine. You’d just be an official consultant and could be called to testify, although I doubt it,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“What the hell, then,” she replied. “Being called to testify would be cool.”</span></p><p> <span>He chuckled, “All right. I’ll go back in and have the M.E. send you his findings.”</span></p><p> <span>“Great, I just sent my email. I’ll call you later with what I find,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“Thank you, Norah. This is great help,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“Of course,” she said. “Oh! And while I have you on the phone, I get to tell you some good news, I am the official Chief ER Attending now. They offered me the job yesterday and I accepted.”</span></p><p> <span>“Hey congratulations! You deserve it,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah the spring barbeque has kind of morphed into a bit of a self-congratulatory party for me,” she laughed. “I want you and Jack to be there. He can, uh…meet my goats.”</span></p><p> <span>“We would love that,” he told her. “I will do my best to be there.”</span></p><p> <span>“Fantastic,” she replied. “I’ll give you a call later with what I find.”</span></p><p> <span>Two hours later his phone rang, and he saw Norah’s name on his caller ID. The whole team was sitting around the table working through the facts of this case. He answered the phone and told her she was on speaker with the whole team.</span></p><p> <span>“Hello again,” she greeted. “Two of those drugs I knew were cancer treatments off the top of my head. We have a lot of ER patients come in using that concoction. The third is a heavy-duty narcotic typically used to treat symptoms of chemotherapy. The last one is new and isn’t approved by the FDA yet. One of the oncologists I work with is part of a drug manufacturers trial that includes the combo of these four drugs. They are happening all over the country. Based on what I could find on the compliance paperwork, it looks like they are in Seattle, DC, Dallas, and Ann Arbor.”</span></p><p> <span>“Did the victims have cancer?” Morgan asked no one in particular.</span></p><p> <span>“Based on their white blood cell count, I would guess not,” Norah replied. “But it doesn’t always mean they don’t.”</span></p><p> <span>“Morgan, call Garcia and have her check their medical records and then go with JJ and find which hospital is doing the drug trial. Rossi and Reid, I want you to talk to the families, see if they were a part of any trial. I am going to continue working through victimology here,” he said. Then he took Norah off speakerphone and walked into a mostly empty hallway of the police station.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you guys in a city that has a drug trial?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Just south of Ann Arbor,” he replied. “Thank you for your help, this definitely leads us in an interesting direction.”</span></p><p> <span>“Absolutely, I am always willing to help. Do you think you’ll have it wrapped up in time to make it to the CPR class on Saturday?”</span></p><p> <span>He sighed, “I hope so. Jack was really looking forward to it.”</span></p><p> <span>“Well, good luck with catching your killer, Aaron. Call me back if you have any more questions,” she said. “Actually, call me back and tell me if that drug trial factors into the killings, because that is a wild way to choose victims”</span></p><p> <span>“What do you mean?” he asked.            </span></p><p> <span>“Drug trials are typically double-blind. So, the odds that those who were killed actually had the drug is suspect at best. Not to mention, why kill the people on the drug, that negatively impacts the study,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Have you heard much about it?”</span></p><p> <span>“Not really, one of the oncologists said the results weren’t promising and a few people dropped out because they weren’t getting better,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“Interesting, I just had a thought, so I need to go, but I’ll let you know when we close the case,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Sounds good, Aaron. Be safe.”</span></p><p> <span>He walked back into the conference room where JJ and Morgan were suiting up to go.</span></p><p> <span>“How’s Norah?” JJ asked in a sing-song voice. Morgan smirked and waited for his answer.</span></p><p> <span>“Fine,” he replied shortly. “She brought up an interesting point though: why kill the people on the drug and how did he know. She said it was a double-blind study. But at her hospital people were dropping out because they weren’t seeing results.”</span></p><p> <span>“Why kill the people you’re studying?” Morgan asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Maybe he’s trying to hide something? We profiled him as mission oriented and there’s not signs of sexual assault. They have a lot of stab wounds, but the ME did say that they probably died from the first one almost directly over the heart,” JJ replied thinking out loud.</span></p><p> <span>“It sounds like a doctor,” Hotch said.</span></p><p> <span>“It sounds like a doctor who is trying to hide something,” Morgan added.</span></p><p> <span>Later that night they were on the jet flying back to DC after arresting the doctor running the drug trial. Everyone on the jet was asleep except for Rossi who was on the opposite end of the jet reading a book with a serious look on his face. He had texted Jack and Jessica that he was heading back already, but his thumb hovered over Norah’s name. She had asked him for an update, and it wasn’t much past ten in Virginia. He clicked the call button before he could second guess himself. After two rings Norah answered and instead of hello she said,</span></p><p> <span>“Tell me, everything. Your text was not sufficient. What the fuck was “the doctor did it” supposed to mean to me.”</span></p><p> <span>“So, I take it I’m not distracting you from something important?” he asked coyly, his voice barely above a whisper.</span></p><p> <span>“Unless you count another episode of the Great British Bake Off as important, no I’m delightfully free to hear about your cryptic-ass text,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t remember you cursing this much last time we spoke,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“I was in professional establishments then. And don’t try and stall, you know that I have been waiting to hear this for hours!”</span></p><p> <span>He chuckled lowly, glancing up at Morgan who was sitting across from him to make sure he wasn’t awake, “One of the doctor’s running the drug trial in Ann Arbor was hiring non cancer patients to test the drug on. He was fudging the numbers. People had begun to ask questions, so he murdered the non-cancer patients to hide what he had been doing. He went as far to stage them to look like muggings, but he stabbed them and posed them in the exact same way.”</span></p><p> <span>“Which led to you guys being called in,” she finished. “Wow, that is fucked up. I cannot believe you ran into the one doctor who wanted to see more people dead.”</span></p><p> <span>“It’s more common than you think,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“That is utterly depressing,” she remarked. “So, are you guys on your way home?”</span></p><p> <span>“We are. Which means Jack and I will be at your class on Saturday,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Ah, brilliant,” she told him. “Thanks for calling and letting me know what happened. Like I would have survived waiting until Saturday, but it probably would have killed me.”</span></p><p> <span>“Mmm, thank you for not being dramatic about it,” he said with a hint of humor in his voice.</span></p><p> <span>“Dramatic? Moi?” she asked. “I am absolutely never dramatic.”</span></p><p> <span>“Oh of course not.” Hotch fell silent, he didn’t realize how long until she spoke up.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you okay? You got really silent there?”</span></p><p> <span>He cleared his throat, “There was a family member that is sticking with me. I can’t get him out of my head.”</span></p><p> <span>“What about him?”</span></p><p> <span>“When I told him, his sister had been killed, he collapsed and that sadness, it…” he trailed off not really knowing what to say.</span></p><p> <span>“It permeates your very soul reminding you of every death and tragedy you’ve experienced. It’s like this moment of such great empathy that it paralyzes you,” she finished.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, that. Exactly,” he breathed. “Very specific.”       </span></p><p> <span>She chuckled sheepishly, “Yeah I’ve gone, and still go to a lot of therapy. I see people die a lot. It’s part of the job. And I’ve lost a lot of people, so the grief isn’t lost on me. My aunt was kind of my mother figure after my mom left; she died suddenly from surgery complications.”</span></p><p> <span>“My wife, uh, ex-wife, she was killed by a serial killer I’d been chasing,” he said quietly.</span></p><p> <span>“Jesus fucking Christ,” Norah replied. “Did you catch him?”</span></p><p> <span>“I killed him.”</span></p><p> <span>“Good.”</span></p><p> <span>“Without empathy this job would suck our souls, but sometimes it seems to do that anyways,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Children are always the worst for me. Most of the time they have the flu and their parents overreacted, but sometimes they have pneumonia and they die within an hour of being diagnosed. Parents tend to blame the doctors, which is understandable, but it is so hard to not also blame ourselves. We can’t cure everything despite thinking so. Everything is fucked up sometimes.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, yeah it is.”</span></p><p> <span>“I have an early shift tomorrow, so I have to go, but Aaron?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah.”</span></p><p> <span>“Call me whenever you feel like this. If you don’t already have a sounding board, I’m happy to be one.” And he believed her.</span></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The CPR class was held in the hospital but on the completely opposite side from the ER. It was an early Saturday morning, which meant that Norah just hung around after her shift ended at six in the morning. Despite the new job giving her more regular hours, weekends were weekends and they needed attendings wherever they could get them. Frankly she didn’t mind, working nights; the cases were always weird and while there were more drug addicts there were also a lot of tired people who weren’t awake enough to start any problems. There was a guy who accidentally burned himself when trying to grill dinner, but beyond him it was very standard ER problems, a lot of potential heart attacks, mishaps, and a few cases of the flu. There was one guy who claimed he dropped an anvil on his foot in an effort to get narcotics, but the resident assigned to him very easily spotted a lie. Mainly because anvils weren’t exactly popular décor. When her shift ended, she changed into jeans and a loose turtleneck sweater. She could have stayed in her scrubs for the class, but frankly she wasn’t sure what had been in contact with her clothes, so she figured it was better safe than sorry. After freshening up, she went down the street to the coffee shop and bought a giant cup of coffee and sat outside while the sun rose. It always felt a little weird to be awake before the sun, but sunrises were her favorite part of the night shift.</span>
</p><p> <span>The class started at eight, so she started her walk back to the hospital a little before seven. They held the training in one of the smaller classrooms used for surgery prep and informational seminars. Another nurse, Gloria, was co-teaching the class with her. The two of them had been teaching this CPR class since Norah had started working at the hospital and had a good rhythm down, Gloria would prepare the sign in sheet and paperwork while Norah set up the room. There were thirteen people attending the class today, four of which were just getting recertified. But the afternoon had first aid training and none of the thirteen participants had that certification. The first thing she did was space out the mannequins for practice. They would be starting CPR pretty early on in the day, so Norah wanted to make sure each one was working. As she was testing the mannequins, people started to arrive. She would claim that she wasn’t listening to the tell-tale signs of Aaron and Jack, but she doubts she would have convinced anybody.</span></p><p> <span>When she had finished the equipment check, she ambled up to the front of the room and checked the AV equipment. It was a simple PowerPoint and video series and if it did stop working, she could teach everyone the material, but it wasn’t exactly her favorite thing. It was the first aid part of the class she liked teaching the best. Once her room set up was complete, she started looking around the room to see who had shown up. Glancing at her watch, she read that it was ten minutes until eight and Aaron and Jack still hadn’t arrived. She wondered if he got called away on work and hadn’t been able to let her know. Just as she was about to chalk the day up to a minor disappointment, Jack ran in with a harried looking Aaron following behind him. He wore a similar pullover and jeans, but had added a leather jacket which really should not have affected her the way it did, but frankly she had given up on her reactions to Aaron Hotchner a long time ago. His hair was a mess and based on the bags under his eyes, he probably hadn’t gotten much more sleep than she had.</span></p><p> <span>“Good morning,” she chirped, walking up to the pair.</span></p><p> <span>“Hi, Dr. Michaelson!” Jack exclaimed at a high volume. Hotch winced.</span></p><p> <span>“You can call me Norah, Jack,” she told the kid and then she looked at Aaron, “Good morning, Aaron. How’d you sleep.”</span></p><p> <span>“Remarkably bad,” he replied. “How long is this again.”</span></p><p> <span>“The CPR portion is three hours, we have an hour break and then another two hours for first aid,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“You seem very awake for this early in the morning,” he commented. She smiled sardonically.</span></p><p> <span>“I never went to sleep; my shift ended a couple hours ago. I might take a nap in my car during break though.”</span></p><p> <span>“You live pretty far out of the way,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Nearly an hour, but it’s worth it for the blessed silence,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” he replied looking pointedly at his son who grinned mischievously.</span></p><p> <span>“Dad promised to take me to get tacos during lunch,” Jack told her.</span></p><p> <span>“That sounds good. There’s a great taco truck that parks a few blocks away. Some of the best carne asada I’ve ever had,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, if you don’t need your nap maybe you could show us,” Aaron suggested.</span></p><p> <span>“Please!” Jack begged.</span></p><p> <span>Norah chuckled and said, “We’ll see how tired I am, but I have a feeling the answer will be yes. Unfortunately, I have to get the class started, but I’ll find you when we’re done.”</span></p><p> <span>When the first session ended, Norah didn’t get the opportunity to accompany them as a student took up most of the hour break asking questions. Despite the ill-fated timing, Norah really did enjoy teaching so she went ahead and worked with the student through the break, but managed to text Aaron the address of the taco truck. The student finally went to grab food about fifteen minutes before they were due to start again which gave Norah a split second to sit down and close her eyes. At least until she heard someone yell,</span></p><p> <span>“Norah we brought you food!”</span></p><p> <span>Blinking her eyes open, she saw Aaron and Jack walking towards her with a nondescript brown bag. The same brown bag that the tacos from her favorite taco truck came in. She could kiss those Hotchner boys.</span></p><p> <span>“You brought me a taco?” she asked looking up at Aaron.</span></p><p> <span>“I’ll have to be honest, it was Jack’s idea,” he said. She grinned and gave the boy a hug.</span></p><p> <span>“You have made my whole day,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, dad paid for it,” Jack shrugged blushing. Norah grinned and opened the bag to a carne asada taco.</span></p><p> <span>“You both are my favorite people in the whole wide world,” she said. “I could kiss you both.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ew,” Jack replied.</span></p><p> <span>“According to Reid it is more hygienic than hugs,” Aaron said to Jack.</span></p><p> <span>“But it’s gross,” he protested making Norah laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“Well as a doctor I can definitely confirm that we should just be kissing people instead of hugging. I guess you’re going to have to learn to get over it,” she told him watching his face pinch in displeasure.</span></p><p> <span>“I just won’t do it,” he declared.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, thank you for the taco regardless,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>Norah wouldn’t lie, she definitely wanted to kiss Aaron (well, his cheek) just to see what he would do, but it seemed inappropriate to do in front of his son, so she held back. After scarfing down her taco, she and Gloria went back to teaching the first aid portion of the class. In her opinion this one was much more fun and hands on. She was able to go by each participant and correct their actions. She definitely corrected Aaron more than necessary, but based on how quickly he was picking up her correction, she wondered if he was messing up on purpose. She had no proof other than the fact he needed about three times the help when she was leading a section compared to Gloria. Despite seeing Aaron and Jack, Norah was glad when the class ended. She had been up for close to 24 hours at this point and frankly she was looking forward to her calm drive back home and straight to bed. Thankfully she was off Sunday and Monday, but the next Friday was her annual spring BBQ. Bethany and her closest neighbor Tonya were coming a little early to help set up, but she had to spend most of the week preparing the BBQ. While she rarely continued things from her childhood, the family BBQ’s she used to have were the most fun she remembered having as a child. When she was fifteen her dad taught her how to smoke meat. That was one of the best memories she had with her dad. Before she crashed today, she needed to at least make her grocery list.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron and Jack came up to her once the class ended and the materials had been put away. Aaron said, “Thank you for inviting Jack and I to this. It was very informative.”</span></p><p> <span>“I can save lives now,” Jack announced.</span></p><p> <span>“Well obviously,” she told him. “Did you get your certification card?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yup, it is going in my wallet!”</span></p><p> <span>“Your wallet?” she asked. “That’s impressive.”</span></p><p> <span>“Jack is very proud of his chore money he earns each week,” Aaron said sagely.</span></p><p> <span>“How much do you get paid?” Norah asked him.</span></p><p> <span>“A whole ten dolars,” he said. “I clean my bathroom and I sweep the hallway and kitchen once a week.”</span></p><p> <span>“Wow, you’re living the high life,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m super close to my savings goal. I’m going to buy the new Super Smash Bros game,” he told her. “It’s my favorite.”</span></p><p> <span>“You know when I was in college, I was the Mario Kart queen of Dillard West,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Dillard West?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“It was the dorm I lived in,” she replied. “Although I lost that title when I went to medical school. Apparently, people are much better at Mario Kart in Chicago than West Texas.”</span></p><p> <span>“You went to college in Texas? That is so cool!”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah?” she asked, a little surprised.</span></p><p> <span>“Jack recently learned about ranching and farms in school and really likes the idea of living on a ranch in Texas,” Aaron told her.</span></p><p> <span>“Trust me, buddy. It is not as glamorous as you think it would be. There’s a lot of poop,” she said. “But Texas is a pretty cool place. Especially some of the national and state parks.”</span></p><p> <span>“Did you grow up there?” Jack asked completely enraptured but what she was going to say</span></p><p> <span>“I did. I grew up in North Texas not too far from Fort Worth. My dad, siblings and I lived on some land about thirty minutes west of the city.”</span></p><p> <span>“What about your mom?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Jack,” Aaron started to scold, but Norah cut him off.</span></p><p> <span>“It’s not a big deal, Aaron. My mom wasn’t around a lot when I was growing up. She had a mental illness which made it really hard for her to want to be a mom. My dad, aunts and uncles were around a lot though and my grandma lived with us for a long time too.”</span></p><p> <span>“My mom died when I was small,” Jack told her. “Do you miss your mom?”</span></p><p> <span>She really didn’t, but settled on saying, “I missed having a mom around when I was younger. It was hard to see all my friends with their moms, sometimes. She got a little better when I was in college and I saw her more.”</span></p><p> <span>“Do you see her now?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“She died a few months ago. She got really sick again and had a hard time managing it. I hadn’t seen her in a few years,” she told him. “But it sounds like your mom loved you so much and I’ll bet she probably misses you too.”</span></p><p> <span>“That’s what dad says,” he replied sadly.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, don’t tell him, but your dad is kinda smart,” she stage-whispered.</span></p><p> <span>“Uncle Dave said he’d get a big head if we were too nice to him,” Jack stage whispered right back. Norah chuckled and stood.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m right here,” Aaron replied. “Why don’t you go grab your coat. I’ll meet you out in the hallway in a second.”</span></p><p> <span>“Okay,” Jack replied, running off.</span></p><p> <span>“Thank you,” Aaron told her.</span></p><p> <span>“For what?” Norah asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Talking about your mom. I can’t imagine that was easy,” he said. Norah shrugged.</span></p><p> <span>“Easier than you might expect. I hope he doesn’t think my story mirrors his too closely,” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to miss my mom growing up. Frankly, we really didn’t talk about her until I was probably thirteen or fourteen. My older sisters were the ones who did all the coming of age mom stuff.”</span></p><p> <span>“How many siblings do you have?”</span></p><p> <span>“Four, two older sisters, an older brother and a younger sister. My mom came back for a few years and had my sister, but not long after she was born she left again,” Norah told him.</span></p><p> <span>“How badly did it fuck you up?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Not having a mom?” she asked. “I had a lot of problems expressing myself emotionally. My dad isn’t exactly the prime example of emotional competency. I resented her for a long time mainly because no one explained to me how sick she was. But my aunts and grandmother were really great growing up. I am still really close with them.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m always worried I’m fucking him up,” Aaron said.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, yeah you are. But parents always fuck up their children. But I see a lot of unhealthy relationships in the ER. You and Jack are solid. You said that Hayley’s sister is around a lot, which really helps. Mother figures are just as important,” she said putting a soft hand on his shoulder.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re a remarkable woman,” Aaron said quietly.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, I worked hard at it, so I’m glad you think so,” she laughed. “Where are you and Jack parked?”</span></p><p> <span>As Norah walked out to the parking lot with them, Jack asked, “Are you excited for your BBQ?”</span></p><p> <span>“I am. I am about to go home and make my grocery list for everything,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Aunt Jessica and I are going to make cupcakes to bring,” he said. Norah had extended the invitation to Aaron’s sister-in-law as well, mainly to ensure that Jack would be able to come even if Aaron got called away at work.</span></p><p> <span>“What kind of cupcakes?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t know but I definitely want chocolate ones,” he said. “Are you cooking all the food?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m cooking a lot of it. But all my friends bring something so we have enough food for everyone. I’ll be grilling all the meat and vegetables, but I’ll bet that people will be bringing salads, desserts and fun sides. I think JJ and Will are bringing mashed potatoes.”</span></p><p> <span>“I love mashed potatoes,” Jack said.</span></p><p> <span>“Me too. I think potatoes are the best food of all time,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“They are so good!” he declared, climbing into Aaron’s car.</span></p><p> <span>“So good,” Aaron parroted his son. “It’s looking like a case won’t be taking us away this week. Nothing that’s hit our desks is travel urgent.”</span></p><p> <span>“And if something does, just text me. Life happens,” she shrugged.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, I don’t want to miss it,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“And I hope you don’t have to. It wouldn’t quite be the same without you,” she said just above a whisper. Aaron was close to her, close enough for her to hear him let out a harsh exhale when Jack yelled at him to hurry up. Norah hid a smile behind her hand and before she lost her nerve, leaned up and kissed his cheek.</span></p><p> <span>“For the tacos.”</span></p><p> <span>She spun around after watching Aaron’s face turn red and walked back to her car. If she swayed her hips a little more than normal, who could blame her? </span></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The week leading up to her BBQ wasn’t exactly restful. She only worked two shifts at the hospital, and spent much of her free time prepping for Friday. Early Thursday morning she was coming home from work when she received a call from Lucas,</span>
</p><p> <span>“Norah, I have some great news for you!” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Oooh, tell me,” she replied, stripping off her scrubs and tossing them in her washing machine. There was a lot of blood and gross stuff on her and she was not planning on walking those around her house. She pulled on her robe and went into her kitchen to feed her dog while Lucas talked.</span></p><p> <span>“Not only did I get your name on the Field Medic training list, but I just heard they want you to teach it,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“What? Seriously?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah my boss said something about having seen you in action and also the fact you’re in charge of one of the only Level One Trauma ER’s in the area.”</span></p><p> <span>“Huh, I guess I am,” she replied grinning. “That’s so exciting!”</span></p><p> <span>“They should be calling you later today with the official offer,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“You’ve made my morning, Lucas Carr,” she announced. “But I just got home from the hospital and I’m covered in blood, so I’m going to hang up and shower.”</span></p><p> <span>“That is disgusting, please hang up and shower.”</span></p><p> <span>“You’re the best!” she said ending the call.</span></p><p> <span>Once she had set down her dog’s food, she walked into her bedroom and pulled out clothes for the day before getting into the shower. Once she felt clean and refreshed, she tied her wet hair on the top of her head and started the day's prep for food. Today was about meat prep, she started everything in a marinade yesterday and was heating up the grill when her phone rang. Without looking at she answered,</span></p><p> <span>“Hello?”</span></p><p> <span>“Hey sweetheart,” she heard her dad say.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey dad, is something wrong? We normally talk on Sundays,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“No nothing, I just had a question to run by you,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Shoot.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ricky and I, that is my business partner,” he clarified hesitantly.</span></p><p> <span>“Right,” she urged.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, he’s from DC and we were thinking about opening an office up near you,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s exciting, but what’s your question?” she asked him.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, I’ll be coming up in a few weeks to speak with some investors and I wanted to know if I could stay with you for a few days. I haven’t seen what you’ve done with your new house and, well, I thought it might be nice to see you,” he replied awkwardly. Despite his failing, of which there were many, her dad really loved and she really loved her dad.</span></p><p> <span>“You should know I’m over an hour away from the city,” she told him, “so you might want to stay in town around your meetings, but you’re welcome to stay here too.”</span></p><p> <span>“That sounds great. Is two nights with you good?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah that’s fine. Let me know the dates and I’ll try and make sure I’m home,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“As soon as I book the flights I’ll email the information to you. I haven’t seen you in a while, kiddo,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, it’ll be good to see you too,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“You haven’t come down for Christmas in a while,” he added. She sighed,</span></p><p> <span>“And I can’t really promise I ever will. You know what an ER looks like around the holidays. I came out last June for Taylor’s birthday and I already have a flight booked for October,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“You can’t blame me for trying,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Well I can, but it won’t stop you,” she chuckled.</span></p><p> <span>“I am but an innocent old man,” he replied. She scoffed.</span></p><p> <span>“I’ll talk to you later there, ‘innocent old man’,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Bye sweetheart.”</span></p><p> <span>True to his word, just as Norah finished putting the meat in the smoker, she got an email from her dad with his flight information. Thankfully she was able to take both days off and began to research some things they could do while he was in town. Mulling over places she could take her dad; Norah began to work through her to-do list for the house. Her lawn had been mowed yesterday, but she needed to make sure all of the ant hills near the porch were gone too. While she was in her shed, she checked on her stash just to make sure it was where she had put it after everything went down a few months ago. She would never have guessed that Aaron Hotchner would have become such a constant presence in her life and mind back then. Frankly, it was a little frustrating for someone who prided themselves on their ability to function without a man. </span></p><p>
  <span>After she and Peter divorced, she went through this intense feminism and independence kick. That eventually ended when she briefly reconnected with a high school boyfriend, had some mediocre sex, and swore off relationships. Sometimes while out with Bethany, or more recently JJ, she would make out with a guy or occasionally head back to his apartment, but the sex was never as great as she seemed to remember it being with Peter, and that was a rough place to be. Bethany was always offering to set her up with men, but as of right now there was only one man that she had any desire for, and he was frustratingly out of her reach. A blind man could tell Aaron Hotchner was attracted to her, but whether he was willing to act on those feelings remained a mystery.</span>
</p><p> <span>For most of her adult life, she was the one who made the first move. Sometimes that looked like her asking out her future husband (then eventually ex-husband) or being the first one to initiate major relationship milestones. She was never the first person to say “I love you” but that was more of a “my mother abandoned me, and I hesitate before forming real commitments” thing. Regardless, the first kiss, the first-time having sex, and even asking about marriage, she made the first move. Yet with Aaron, she found herself waiting for him. Underneath the tough and scary FBI agent façade, there was someone who had lost the love of his life and while Norah didn’t fully relate, she knew how raw that left a person. But, she was bold, growing up with three sisters, becoming a doctor, and being an active CIA operative required that. Somehow that boldness seemed lost on Aaron; he wasn’t intimidated by it, but it wasn’t the attraction that Peter felt or any of her other past flings for that matter. Every other man she had been with let her make the first move, in fact, they wanted her to. They were powerful in their own right and just like she enjoyed being in charge of powerful men, they enjoyed her taking charge.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron remained maddeningly aloof. Sometimes, on her weaker nights, she would think about how he smelled when they sat next to each other in his car that first time they met. At the time she hadn’t thought much about it, but now she thought about it like some obsessed fangirl. It was a subtle but crisp scent that smelled exactly like him. Ever since her first boyfriend, she knew she had a </span><em><span>thing</span></em><span> about shoulders and arms, but when watching him complete CPR training a few days ago she caught herself staring way too often, especially considering his twelve-year-old son was right next to him. Later that afternoon when she impulsively kissed his cheek, sometimes if she thought about it hard enough, she could still feel the slight stubble on his face.</span></p><p> <span>All of that, though, was infatuation. She had been infatuated with people before and quick fuck takes it right out of her system. She was positive that should it ever come to that with Aaron, she’d be addicted. He loved his son so much and worked exceedingly hard at making sure he was present and there for him. He was kind hearted, even if it wasn’t noticeable at first glance. He cared deeply about his family, colleagues and the random people he met during his job. He had a sense of humor that snuck up on you when you were least expecting it. The fact that he was a genuinely good person is what really killed it for her. Wanting to jump his bones was all well and good, but she wanted to do more than that. She wanted to be the person he called when a case got rough or when he needed someone to lean on. Without a doubt, she wanted to do obscene things to him and with him, but moreover, she wanted to be there for him.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, my </span><em><span>fucking</span></em><span> god,” she moaned collapsing on one of her patio chairs. “I am so fucked.”</span></p><p> </p><p> <span>The next night Bethany and her son Beckman arrived a couple hours before people were scheduled to arrive. For most of the day Norah had been grilling various food and keeping it in the warming drawer in her kitchen. With Bethany she set out a few tables that were stored in the garage, lit the anti-mosquito lamps and built the two fires for people to gather around when the sun set. Before everyone arrived, she would have to get the goats back into their pen, but she had another few hours before it was time for that. It was in the low seventies right now which meant the night would probably get down into the mid-60s. That was a good temperature, especially with the fires she had. All of the food would stay in the kitchen due to the coyotes that sometimes roamed her property. None of them had gotten the courage to come past the tree line, but she had seen some when exploring her land and she didn’t want to encourage them.</span></p><p> <span>Bethany and Beckman had gone outside to make sure everything was set up. As people arrived, she sent them into the kitchen’s sliding glass doors. The first people to arrive were her friends and colleagues from the hospital followed shortly after by Lucas and his fiancé Annie. Not too long after that JJ, Will and Henry showed up with a huge thing of mashed potatoes. JJ and Will hung out with her in the kitchen while a few stragglers continued to show. One of them were Jack and Aaron. Henry, excited to see someone he knew immediately drug his friend off to look at the animals which most of the children in attendance were already doing. By the time Norah had a chance to take a breath and see her friends, the sun had nearly set. People were enjoying the food, and everyone seemed content and happy. For the next couple hours she joked and laughed with her hospital friends before seeing JJ, Will and Aaron off next to one of the bonfires talking by themselves.</span></p><p> <span>“How’s the food?” she asked, coming up to Aaron, JJ and Will.</span></p><p> <span>“The brisket was incredible,” Will told her. “The best truly southern food I’ve had since moving up here.”</span></p><p> <span>“I thought Virginia was the south?” Aaron asked.</span></p><p> <span>“As far as repercussions of slavery and culture are concerned, you’re right, but food? Not even close,” Norah told him.</span></p><p> <span>“To good southern food,” Will said, holding up his beer. Norah chuckled and knocked her can against his. “What part of the south are you from?”</span></p><p> <span>“Texas, yee-haw and all that. Not hard to guess where you’re from,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“No, it is not,” JJ replied, wrapping an arm around his waist. He smiled at her and Norah felt that pull she hadn’t felt in a while.</span></p><p> <span>After her divorce, she would see couples at work or in public and desperately want what they had. It wasn’t the crazy public displays of affection, but the casual hand on backs and familiarity bread from years of trust and love. She rarely missed Peter, but she frequently missed being married. Despite their failings, he knew her inside and out. He knew what her bad days looked like and how she shut down completely when she was hurt. The worst part about her divorce was that she remembered what it was like to be married, and she loved being married.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, I’m going to go grab a cupcake, anyone else want something?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“I think I’ll grab one too,” Aaron said following her into the house. When he shut the door, he asked, “Are you okay? You got quiet.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, mostly. Just got a little too nostalgic for one night,” she said trying to joke it off.</span></p><p> <span>“Can I ask about what?”</span></p><p> <span>“Not sure how much I want to talk about it right now,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“You know Jack made those cupcakes. He was very excited about showing you them, but I think he and Henry got distracted by the animals before he could,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>She smiled and grabbed a messily iced cupcake from the plate. Kind of on purpose, she leaned against the doorway into her laundry room. It was the only section of the kitchen that couldn’t be seen from the backyard and right now, she just needed a breather. Despite her lustful infatuation for one Aaron Hotchner, she would much prefer to be alone, but there wasn’t exactly an easy way to ask him for that. Even with less than ideal situations she would be fine. They didn’t really speak while she slowly ate the cupcake, but even without looking at him, Norah knew he was staring at her.</span></p><p> <span>“You can tell Jack that those were great,” she said hoping he didn’t hear the way her voice didn’t sound quite right.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” he asked leaning up against the counter to her right. Norah shrugged and replied,</span></p><p> <span>“It feels stupid. I just got…I dunno, envious? Of JJ and Will. I don’t miss Peter, but I miss being married. Miss someone knowing me that well and knowing someone else that well.”</span></p><p> <span>“That’s not stupid,” he said quietly.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron was standing close to her. If she stopped leaning up against the door frame, they would be touching. She was acutely aware of him next to her. He smelled nice, but after an evening standing next to fires, he also smelled a little smoky. Desperately trying to control herself, she downed the rest of her beer and went to grab another. When she walked past, Aaron grabbed her wrist. She jumped, not from surprise, but from the shocks he sent up her arm. This was not good at all. There were mere inches from each other, and his eyes bore into her. Norah was trying to figure out what his plan was, but it looked like he was doing the same. The hand on her wrist slowly moved up her arm and she found herself moving towards him unconsciously. Her mind had not caught up with what was happening, surely he wasn’t going to kiss her right now? Their noses were almost touching, and Norah wasn’t sure if three seconds had passed or three hours. He opened his mouth to say something (or kiss her?), but they heard a wail from the backyard. Norah jumped back, her heart pounding away in her throat and without a second thought they both sprinted outside. JJ and Will were crouched down in front of Henry, who was crying and Jack who looked frantic. Norah and Aaron ran up to them and heard Jack say,</span></p><p> <span>“Henry wandered off and got scared. I couldn’t find him at first.”</span></p><p> <span>“Hey Henry,” Norah said, bending down next to JJ. “Does it hurt anywhere?”</span></p><p> <span>Henry pointed to his foot and there was a scrape on his ankle where he had cut his skin in the bramble. “Why don’t we go inside and get a band aid on that? What about you Jack? Are you hurt anywhere?”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t think so,” he said. “I’m so sorry Aunt JJ!”</span></p><p> <span>“It’s okay Jack. Everyone is fine,” JJ told the younger boy. “You found him and brought him back and that’s what's important.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron’s attention was rapt on Jack. The group followed Norah into her house while she had Bethany send the stragglers home. Nearly everyone had left by this time, but a few nurses still lingered wanting to make sure the young boys were okay. Thankfully it just seemed like getting lost in the dark had mildly traumatized them. Norah had done the same when she was younger and remembered how terrified she’d been when she was Henry’s age. Although unlike the small boy she had accidentally stumbled across a Mountain Lion, who thankfully had no desire to eat a seven-year-old girl. JJ carried her son inside and followed her friend into the en-suit bathroom of her bedroom where she grabbed a heft first aid kit that she got as a gag gift from her brother once. Joke was on him though, because it was very useful. The scratch was more like a gash once Norah saw it in the well-lit bathroom, but it wouldn’t require stitches thankfully.</span></p><p> <span>“All right Henry let’s check out this leg here. You won’t need stitches, but I am going to have to clean this scratch out with some water and then disinfect it,” she coached. “So, what you’re going to do is hold your mom’s hand really tightly and try and stay as still as you can.”</span></p><p> <span>“Can you do that buddy?” JJ asked, grabbing her son’s hand.</span></p><p> <span>He nodded and Norah began to wash out his wound. There was some grass and dirt in it, but that was easily removable. The thing she was concerned about were the bits of burrs that had dug themselves into the sides of gash. She saw Will, Aaron and Jack hovering outside the bathroom and turned on her ER doctor voice to ask Henry about his favorite classes and his friends. She was able to remove the burrs without much fighting from the small boy. Moving quickly, she disinfected the wound and then rubbed antibiotic cream on it before he could process either happened. Finally, she grabbed some gauze and wrapped his leg loosely, securing it with medical tape.</span></p><p> <span>“And you are all done!” she exclaimed. “You’re very brave Henry. Not many kids your age would be able to do that without being super scared.”</span></p><p> <span>He didn’t say anything and shoved his face into JJ’s neck. She grabbed the little boy and Norah ushered them out of her bedroom, trying not to think about so many people seeing the tacky art and pictures she had hanging everywhere. Before everyone left, she sent them all home with the leftover food and desserts. Norah and Aaron hadn’t said another word to each other, but Jack gave her a big hug when she left. He left the cupcakes.</span></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron was sitting at his desk the next Monday when Rossi walked in. The older man eased himself into the chair across from Aaron’s desk with a smug look on his face. As much as Aaron didn’t want to know what his friend planned to goad over him, he finished the file’s page he was on and closed the file. Eyeing Rossi with a level stare before sighing and asking him what he wanted. Before responding, his old friend grinned like a cat who ate the canary and handed Aaron a flyer. It was advertising the field medic class he and JJ signed up for.</span>
</p><p> <span>“Do you want to attend?” Aaron asked, confused.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh god no,” he replied. “Look at who is teaching it.”</span></p><p> <span>“Dr. Norah Michaelson,” he read out and then another name, “and Dr. Brent Travers.”</span></p><p> <span>“So, are you excited to have your doctor girlfriend be in charge of you for a few days?” Rossi asked suggestively.</span></p><p> <span>“She’s not my girlfriend,” he told his friend.</span></p><p> <span>“Why not? You think she’s cute and dateable. She clearly thinks you’re cute and dateable. Hell, JJ said you two disappeared at her BBQ on Friday.”</span></p><p> <span>“We went inside to get a cupcake,” he told Rossi, who gave him a pointed look. “It is not a euphemism. Jack made her cupcakes and we were having one.”</span></p><p> <span>“Jack made her cupcakes,” Rossi scoffed. “And nothing happened? Nothing at all.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron was stone-faced and yet Rossi’s grin spread.</span></p><p> <span>“Nothing happened, Dave.”</span></p><p> <span>“You’re a liar,” Rossi accused smugly. Sometimes Aaron hated his colleagues. “Spill it, Aaron. I won’t leave until you do. Maybe I’ll even offer some sage advice. I’ve convinced three women to marry me after all.”</span></p><p> <span>“Fine. When we were in the kitchen, we were talking, and I almost kissed her. I came excruciatingly close to it in fact, before Henry and Jack came back after being lost outside,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“So, what are you going to do about it?”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t know. She hadn’t texted or called me since that night. What if it was unwelcomed?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“I can’t say I know Dr. Michaelson well, but she strikes me as a person who would let you know if it wasn’t welcome. Did you say anything to her before you left?”</span></p><p> <span>“No, Jack was pretty upset about losing Henry,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“No wonder she hasn’t communicated with you. You almost kiss her and then don’t say anything about it? It’s your move, Aaron,” he told his friend. “And you could make your move when she’s on the FBI campus for four days next week.”</span></p><p> <span>“It would be unprofessional to flirt with her while she’s working,” he replied stonily.</span></p><p> <span>“Wouldn’t stop me,” Rossi proclaimed.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, I know,” Aaron laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey, don’t knock it ‘till you try it. Don’t let her get away, Aaron. If JJ likes her and Garcia hasn’t come to you with any skeletons in her closet, she is probably a good egg.”</span></p><p> <span>“How much do you think the team knows?” he asked glancing out his window.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, just about everything if I had to guess,” Rossi said getting up and moving towards the door. “I hear that because of all the medical knowledge doctors have, they are the best at lovemaking.”</span></p><p> <span>“Dave,” Aaron warned, opening his file again. “Get out of my office.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ay, Ay Captain.”</span></p><p> <span>Rossi had a point, not about the lovemaking because Aaron wouldn’t let his mind wander there. But about seizing the moment. While he would wait until the course was done, he might utilize the time with her to test the waters and ask her out. Although he had a good feeling she’d say yes. That night in her kitchen he really wasn’t sure what possessed him to grab her wrist and try and kiss her. He made sure that his grip was loose enough to let her pull away if she wanted, but she looked up at him and waited. Everything about her screamed that she would be the aggressor in situations like that, so he waited and when she didn’t move away (but didn’t move towards him) he leaned down. He felt her lean into him. The warmth of her body that close to him nearly made him dizzy. He ran his hand up her arm and even though it was covered with a sweater, he could feel the electricity between them. It had been awhile since anything felt like that. Probably since Beth. She was the one who tilted her face up to him and even though he was loosely cupping her elbow, he wanted her to grab her and back her up against the wall and do…. He cleared his throat before he got carried away with his thoughts.</span></p><p> <span>For the rest of the day he unsuccessfully attempted to do his paperwork, but his thoughts kept trailing back to Norah. No one could deny she was wicked smart and funny. Despite her All-American appearance, she had the mouth of a sailor. It seemed like she was afraid of no one of nothing. Women like her liked the challenge of men but didn’t always love the follow through, but something in Aaron’s gut told him this time was different. She absolutely flirted with him, but sprinkled in their interactions were moments of genuine vulnerability, from the both of them. They were friends but the “almost something more” hung over their interactions heavily. Dating was a perilous adventure for him nowadays. He didn’t want to spend the time and effort with someone impermanent when he could spend that time with his son. Frankly, he was loath to give up any time he had with him. And yet Norah was someone he wanted to spend that effort on. Jack clearly adored her, and she was great with him.</span></p><p> <span>Moreover, everything about her made her seem like one of the most interesting women in the world. She was gorgeous and when around her Aaron had a hard time not staring at her ass or hips. The day she had come into his office with his coffee, he had seen the hint of a tattoo through a rip in her jeans. How desperately he wanted to know what her tattoos look like. Remembering back to the first day they met, romance was not on his radar, but he felt a connection even then. At the time he thought it was a professional connection. Norah appeared to have done good work in the CIA and was exceedingly useful and talented at working through the intricacies of a federal investigation. If their relationships hadn’t evolved, that connection would have remained professional. Now, however, it was hard to deny that he was anything but desperately attracted the ER doctor.</span></p><p> <span>The day of the CPR training, when she had kissed his cheek it took the blush nearly an hour to dissipate. Thankfully, Jack hadn’t noticed anything because he wasn’t sure how he would explain that to his son. But the feeling of her lips on his cheek coupled with almost kissing her the other night, fueled the…longing he had to touch her in a substantive way. If he were younger and more stupid, he would say he was addicted, but that would be dumb as they had barely come into physical contact. Nevertheless, if he wasn’t careful when he went to bed sometimes, he thought he could smell her. Just thinking that made him feel creepy. Regardless, Norah was stuck in his head and until he did something about it, Aaron doubted she would leave.</span></p><p>
  
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>For the next week he had thoughts of Norah. Even when they were called out to North Carolina for a case, he thought of her at least once. A few times he texted her something he thought she would laugh at or enjoy, and she would tell him the wild things that happened to her in the ER or send him pictures and videos of her animals which he dutifully shared with the team at JJ’s request. They spoke on the phone twice: once when Jack asked him a medical question he couldn’t get an answer from google and the second time asking for her opinion about letting him go camping and what he should pack him. If he were more honest with himself, he’d admit that the second call wasn’t necessary and google would have been completely adequate, but it was a chance to talk to Norah. Even though they hadn’t said anything about the almost kiss, it wasn’t that he hadn’t planned to. He just was in the process of coming up with the actual plan. Which is how three weeks passed and tomorrow was the first day of field medic training.</span>
</p><p> <span>He and JJ made the walk over to the FBI academy building. The training would be in one of the classrooms on the first floor. Never would he admit this, but he was glad JJ was coming along with him. He couldn’t be guaranteed to pay attention if he was by himself, or at least pay attention to the right thing. Even though he was pretty certain she and Rossi planned for him to be at this training because one or both of them knew who was going to be teaching. Sure, his friends cared about them, but they sure were nosy about it. In the field medic training email, everyone received from Dr. Travers it instructed them to wear casual clothes for the first three days of instruction. The fourth day would be an assessment where everyone would be in their normal work attire. He opted for jeans and a polo; JJ had a similar thought with jeans but decided on a black t-shirt instead. Walking in he wished he had chosen a t-shirt, because sans a man on the front row everyone was in t-shirts. Norah was at the front leaning across a table and had on a short-sleeved shirt that was partially tucked into jeans. He only noticed this for two reasons: the first was she leaning so he could see her ass and he was man enough to admit her ass looked nice. The second was this was the first time he had actually seen her arms and both of them were littered with tattoos. The arrangement would be considered a sleeve, but there were at least seven from his initial count. He and JJ choose the second table from the front towards the side. There were lifelike human dummy’s in front of them and a field medic bag next to them.</span></p><p> <span>The only other person who wasn’t wearing a t-shirt, instead had opted for a crisp blue button up, said loudly to Norah, “I didn’t know they had nurses teach this thing.”</span></p><p> <span>He felt JJ freeze next to him. Norah looked at him and with a glare that frightened him (but also made him a little excited to see her knock him down a peg) said, “They don’t. I’m very clearly a doctor.”</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, so you, like, work under Dr. Travers?” he asked. Norah raised her eyebrow clearly trying to tell if he was being serious or trying to be a piece of shit. Frankly, Aaron couldn’t really tell. But before she responded JJ said,</span></p><p> <span>“Dr. Michaelson is one of the best ER doctors in the country. She’s in charge of the best level one trauma emergency room in Virginia. Which you would know if you’d read the email that introduced the two </span><em><span>doctors</span></em><span>.” Norah tried to hide her grin by turning her face, but Aaron saw the mirth dancing in her eyes.</span></p><p> <span>“It was just a question, geez,” he replied. Aaron was about to reply when Norah stepped up to the front of the classroom and loudly said,</span></p><p> <span>“Welcome to this year’s field medic training. We have a lot of different types of people in attendance, so we’ll do brief introductions once me and Dr. Travers introduce ourselves and give you a rundown of the day.”</span></p><p> <span>Dr. Travers was a well built man and looked ex-military. He had a USMC tattoo on his forearm and when Norah nodded to him, he said, “My name is Dr. Brent Travers. Currently, I work for Bethesda general as a trauma surgeon. However, for the first fifteen years of my career I was a doctor in the marines. I’ve done everything you all are about to do under gunfire and both Dr. Michaelson and I plan to prepare to do everything here under pressure.”</span></p><p> <span>Once he had finished Norah continued with her introduction, “As someone you know my name is Dr. Michaelson. I am the Chief ER attendant at St. Mary’s in Alexandria. It is a level one trauma center which means I see the worst of the worst accidents and injuries. Prior to my time at St. Mary’s I spent six years in Eastern Europe and a few months in Syria working for various non-profits and providing healthcare to those in active warzones. So, while I was not in the military, I performed a tracheostomy while there was gunfighting happening. Prior to that I did my trauma emergency medicine residency in Belgium.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron knew that her story was technically true, but on the side of being a doctor in an active warzone she also was a CIA operative and spent most of her free time working for the US Government. He briefly glanced at the man in front of him to see what his reaction to Norah’s impressive credentials was and didn’t see much in the body language, not that Aaron was surprised. After their introductions, the pair of doctors went through the curriculum and the day’s agenda. Both Aaron and JJ noticed how odd the man in front of them was acting. It struck both profilers like a weird case of bloodlust. When they went around and introduced themselves, he went last and while there was a good mix of firefighters, police and law enforcement (including about a dozen FBI agents), there were also some teachers and social workers in the mix. The man in front of them introduced himself as Boone, he was ex-air force currently working for the secret service. Aaron’s distaste for the man grew as he spoke. He clearly had narcissistic tendencies, but demonstrated some empathy towards other service members and first responders. He didn’t have long to dwell on his feelings because the course was focus intensive. By the time they broke for lunch Aaron was mentally exhausted. He and JJ both trudged from the room, surprised at their own weariness.</span></p><p> <span>“That was…” JJ started.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah,” he agreed. They both sat outside on a bench eating the lunch Garcia had brought for them to take. He made a mental note to thank Garcia for the turkey sandwich, but right now all he wanted to do was lean back and close his eyes.</span></p><p> <span>“If the whole course is like this,” JJ said, “I think I might actually die.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m going to start praying again just so I can pray that I never have to perform a tracheostomy,” he grumbled, shuddering at the video imagery Norah had shown them during class.</span></p><p> <span>“That dick head who sits in front of us is walking this way on his cellphone. I’ll bet you ten bucks he is pretending to talk to a really beautiful girlfriend,” she said quietly. He peeked his eyes open and sure enough saw Mr. ex-air force himself heading their direction.</span></p><p> <span>“I’d perform a tracheostomy on him,” Aaron said drily, making JJ snort.</span></p><p> <span>“Did you just make a joke?”</span></p><p> <span>“If anyone else asks, I did not,” he said impassively. JJ smirked and they began to hear snippets of the conversation.</span></p><p> <span>“—No worries babe,” he said walking by them. “I’m just grateful you packed me lunch.”</span></p><p> <span>He continued walking past them and Aaron turned to look at JJ, “Glad I didn’t take you up on that bet.”</span></p><p> <span>“I could see his home screen,” she told him. Aaron nearly choked on his sandwich trying to smother his laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“How long before Norah loses it and rips him a new asshole?” Aaron asked drily.</span></p><p> <span>“Ooh, I give her patience at least until the fourth day. I think she can make it,” JJ said.</span></p><p> <span>“I give her until the third day, something about him says he’s going to try and make her react,” he replied thoughtfully.</span></p><p> <span>“Either way she is going to blast him into next week,” she said. “Speaking of Norah, what happened when you guys disappeared from the party a few weeks ago.”</span></p><p> <span>“Jack made her cupcakes and we went to get one,” he told her the </span><em><span>technical </span></em><span>truth.</span></p><p> <span>“And that’s all?”</span></p><p> <span>“What else would have happened?” he asked innocently.</span></p><p> <span>“Do you remember a couple months ago asking me if she was okay because she hadn’t responded to your text messages. You’re good, Hotch, but I’m a little better,” she smirked.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron weighed the merits of opening up to JJ. She was a close friend and colleague. She and Will were some of the most constant people in his life after Jessica and Jack. The problem lies within her also being a close friend of Norah. As if she sensed his hang up, she said,</span></p><p> <span>“This is not me asking as a friend of Norah’s. This is me asking as your friend. I’ve known you for a long time Hotch. And I want to see you happy. If that ends up being with someone I also really like it’s just a bonus. This isn’t middle school and I won’t go repeat whatever you say to her.”</span></p><p> <span>“You and Rossi are relentless,” he huffed but continued, “Something almost happened at the party, but Henry and Jack came back before it went anywhere.”</span></p><p> <span>“What almost happened?” she asked, trying not to sound too interested. He appreciated that effort even if she was completely transparent.</span></p><p> <span>“I almost kissed her. And she looked like she wanted me to.”</span></p><p> <span>“And what have you done since?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m biding my time, but we’ve talked, and I attempted to flirt,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>JJ drummed her fingers on her thigh before responding, “You really like her, don’t you?”</span></p><p> <span>“Maybe.”</span></p><p> <span>“Every time she looks at you, it’s like she wants to jump your bones,” JJ told him.</span></p><p> <span>He wanted to say the feeling was mutual, but something about that seemed inappropriate with someone he was technically in charge of, so he settled with, “Rossi told me to ask her out before it’s too late.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’d have to agree with him.”</span></p><p> <span>“I was going to after the assessment,” he said, although he really just wanted JJ’s reaction to the loose plan he’d constructed.</span></p><p> <span>“Okay,” she said approvingly. Then added, “She’s highly allergic to flowers, just so you know.”</span></p><p> <span>“Just so I know?” he asked with a soft smile. She shrugged, feigning ignorance.</span></p><p>
  
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  <span>The rest of the course passed much like the first morning. Each night he came home collapsed on the couch doing his best to stay awake for Jack. He definitely fell asleep while playing Mario Kart on the second night though, which disappointed him since Jack was leaving for a camping trip the next day. The third day, Saturday, was the most intense. They were wearing headphones that mimic sounds they would hear during emergencies and were on the training grounds outside responding to simulated emergency calls. The worst fake emergency to treat was a sucking chest wound. Each of the dummies were increasingly life-like and that included blood. Someone asked Norah what the fake blood was, and she shook her head telling them they didn’t want to know. That meant that Aaron did his best not to think about what the fake blood could be made out of. After the bomb blast in New York his hearing was slightly worse in his right ear. Sometimes louder sounds weren’t as loud, and he missed quiet sounds altogether. Today was the first day he was ever grateful for that problem.</span>
</p><p> <span>He finished the exercise seconds after JJ, which she proceeded to hold over his for the rest of the day. Boone was one of the last people done and it was clear his pride took a hit. Norah hadn’t said anything when she jotted down his time and no one else seemed to really care. The course had to be finished in half an hour, but everyone had finished before the twenty-six-minute mark. While JJ and Hotch finished just shy of twenty minutes, Boone and a few municipal LEOs finished closer to twenty-five minutes. They had grouped together once finished while Norah and Dr. Travers went through and judged the quality of work that everyone completed. She took half of the participants while Dr. Travers did the others. When Norah walked by Boone’s work he muttered,</span></p><p> <span>“Of course, she’s judging me.” And when no one took the bait to ask him what he meant, he continued, “She already dislikes me because I assumed she was a nurse. Not like you could blame me with all her tattoos and shit.”</span></p><p> <span>“Dr. Michaelson is a professional. You could learn a few things,” a firefighter replied in a final tone. Aaron smirked quietly to himself.</span></p><p> <span>The pair came back and briefly compared notes. They handed out evaluation forms to everyone. JJ and Aaron, continuing their self-imposed competition compared scores, while she had finished before him by four seconds, he had beat her score by a point and a half. All-in-all fairly even. They would have to declare a winner after the final evaluation tomorrow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Boone angrily approach Norah who was speaking with Dr. Travers. He gently nudged JJ who looked up at him and then followed his eyeline to Norah and Boone. At first, they couldn’t hear anything but then heard Boone shout,</span></p><p> <span>“Well I think you’re a little biased!”</span></p><p> <span>Despite not hearing Norah’s retort, he could guess based on her body language. She squared her shoulders and made eye contact with the man angrily shouting at her. Before today he hadn’t fully noticed her height and build, she was tall and had a very muscular build which came in handy when pissed off ex-military men decided to yell at you. She very easily held her own and when she pointed back at the group, he stormed back over not looking at anyone. Aaron desperately wanted to know the score he’d received, but knew better than to ask. Odds were Boone would rant about it later and he would be able to guess. JJ and Aaron shared a knowing glance. He watched as Norah turned around to Dr. Travers and crossed her arms tightly.</span></p><p> <span>They went back inside to finish out the day, but Boone was rearing for a fight with Norah. Each time she spoke he tried to speak over her, but with a practiced ease of someone who’d worked in male dominated places her whole life, continued speaking or shut him down quickly. While it was efficient, Aaron and JJ watched as Boone began to boil. Like a kettle on the stove, he was going to need a release sooner or later and frankly, Aaron was ready to jump in when he did. Once they broke for lunch Aaron and JJ quickly approached her before Boone could and Aaron asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Do we need to say something to Boone?”</span></p><p> <span>“No, I’ll handle it. Dr. Travers and I spoke about a method and we’re watching him closely. Travers and I are going to report him to his supervisor once this is all over. There’s nothing he can dish out that I haven’t dealt with,” she told them.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s depressing,” JJ commented.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s Eastern Europe for you. I stabbed a man with a fork once,” she replied huffing out a sardonic laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“With a fork?” Aaron asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I severed a tendon. Unsurprisingly, you shouldn’t mess with a doctor who knows anatomy remarkably well,” she shrugged.</span></p><p> <span>“Terrifying,” JJ said with an almost feral smile.</span></p><p> <span>“I can show you when this is all over,” Norah replied, making JJ’s grin widen.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, please do.”</span></p><p> <span>“You can’t stab the people we bring into custody with a fork,” Aaron commented.</span></p><p> <span>“Not with that attitude.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah didn’t eat lunch with him and JJ as she and Dr. Travers were preparing for the next part of the class. He wasn’t too upset, because it was harder and harder to be around her without asking her out. So as per the last two days, he and JJ went outside to eat their lunch and watched as Boone angrily stalked around the courtyard. Part of Aaron’s profiling brain thought it was concerning, but he and JJ were discussing the last consult they did, so he just filed it away for later. The pair trailed into the classroom once their allotted hour was up. The last thing they were learning about during their course were destabilized spinal cord injuries. Halfway through Norah’s talk about incomplete versus complete spinal cord injuries she asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Does anyone know the difference?”</span></p><p> <span>Boone’s hand shot up but no one else did. JJ was halfway through raising her hand, despite probably not knowing the answer any better than Aaron did, when Boone just said, “Complete spinal cord injuries when the spinal cord is severed.”</span></p><p> <span>“Sorry Agent Boone, but that’s not quite right, but a very common misconception,” she replied, pulling over the skeleton that normally sat in the corner of the classroom. Before she could continue her explanation, Aaron watched in horrified wonder as Boone said,</span></p><p> <span>“No, I was correct.”</span></p><p> <span>“Agent Boone, I have a medical degree and work in an emergency room. I know what a complete spinal cord injury is, and this is highly inappropriate and disrespectful,” she replied. Her body language wasn’t accusatory nor was it confrontational. Annoyed, Aaron noticed that Dr. Travers wasn’t jumping to her defense, despite watching the encounter with a deep scowl. Regardless of her body language, Boone still saw it as a challenge and shot back,</span></p><p> <span>“You’re just some local doctor hack the FBI got because they couldn’t get an actual military doctor in here. Eastern Europe isn’t a warzone and we all know that.”</span></p><p> <span>The room was silent while they digested Boone’s utter lack of knowledge about the state of political affairs in Eastern Europe, Norah stared at him and then said,</span></p><p> <span>“Well, if you are unhappy with the way the class is progressing, you’re welcome to leave.”</span></p><p> <span>Without allowing him time to disagree or fight again, she began her explanation of complete spinal cord injuries. As if in slow motion, Boone stood up and said,</span></p><p> <span>“I’m not going to sit here while you disrespect me and this class!”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron had enough and without thinking he said, “Sit down and shut up, Agent Boone.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah’s fierce gaze turned to Aaron and she said, “Agent Hotchner, thank you, but—”</span></p><p> <span>“Are you going to fight her battles for her then?” he challenged Aaron, ignoring Norah.</span></p><p> <span>“Do you feel powerful challenging a woman who is clearly better than you? Or is it just because you feel so insecure you need to overcompensate.”</span></p><p> <span>“Agent Hotchner, you need to stop,” he heard Norah warn him. But unfortunately, he was on a roll.</span></p><p> <span>“Or is that you feel so slighted by whatever grade you got during the morning that you have to prove you’re better than an actual medical professional?”</span></p><p> <span>“Agent Hotchner!” Norah exclaimed. Her voice was clear and powerful, it commanded the attention of the whole room, even Boone turned around and looked at her. Her tone was nothing he’d heard from her before and he looked over where she stood glaring at the two of them. “That is highly inappropriate as well. Agent Boone, you’re dismissed from this class and we will be notifying your superiors. Gather your stuff and exit the building or I will be calling agents to escort you out. Agent Hotchner, you’re on thin ice.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron felt a lot of things but mainly, surprise. Wasn’t he just defending her? He hadn’t meant to upset her but nonetheless managed to. He felt his face and neck flush, and he refused to look at JJ who was fixing a worried glance in his direction. Boone gathered his bags and stormed out slamming the door behind him. During his noisy exit, Norah took a sip of water and fixed the classroom with a caustic smile playing on her lips,</span></p><p> <span>“Y’all didn’t know you were getting medical training and a whole soap opera, today did you?”</span></p><p> <span>And just like that the tension of the room eased tenfold with light laughter scattered across the room. That is except for Aaron Hotchner, who felt like the rug had been pulled out from under him. Thankfully the rest of the day passed without another incident, but Norah never looked at him once. Anytime he needed additional help or correction it came from Dr. Travers, even if she had just helped JJ with the same issue. By the end of the day, he found himself upset with her behavior. He was just trying to help her, and she scolded him in front of the class like a disappointed teacher. The irritation and frustration gnawed at him until the end of the day. If she wanted to ignore him, she was welcome to do so. But he felt he deserved an explanation. Perhaps JJ knew what he planned on doing, or his annoyance was written on his face, but she stuck around with him as they waited for the classroom to empty out. Once Dr. Travers had left, he went up to her while JJ hung back. Before he could ask her what happened, she eyed him with an intense stare.</span></p><p> <span>“What the hell was that, Aaron?” she asked, clearly irritated.</span></p><p> <span>“That was me helping. I knew what I was doing,” he replied stubbornly.</span></p><p> <span>“No, you were getting a rise out of him. Actually, you were completely ignoring me to stroke your own ego,” she said, her voice raising a bit. “I distinctly remember asking you to not intervene. And not only did you ignore that, you also ignored my first two attempts to get you to shut. the. fuck. up.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron felt like he’d been slapped. “Stroking my own ego? I was defending you!”</span></p><p> <span>“I am perfectly capable of defending myself! This ain’t my first rodeo and jumping in for me, usurped my authority in his eyes. All of the sudden his dumbass opinions were confirmed. I am a weak woman who needs a man defending me.”</span></p><p> <span>“Well, he wasn’t going to listen to you!” Aaron exclaimed. Why couldn’t she see that he just wanted to help her.</span></p><p> <span>“And you were? I seem to notice that you weren’t exactly attempting to reason with him either, asshole. I am </span><em><span>well</span></em> <em><span>aware</span></em><span> of the effects my gender has on men like him, but you’re a shitty profiler if you thought whatever the hell you did was going to work out any better!”</span></p><p> <span>“You should be—” he started, but she cut him off.</span></p><p> <span>“If the next words out of your mouth were going to be “grateful” you can spin your pretty little ass around and get the hell out of my sight. I am </span><em><span>furious</span></em><span> right now.”</span></p><p> <span>He scoffed and grabbed his bag on his way out. The whole drive home he was fuming. Despite their argument, or blowout, the masochistic part of his brain quietly said, </span><em><span>she said you had a pretty ass. </span></em><span>Once he pulled into his apartment parking spot, he took a second to calm down before going upstairs. The third time replaying their argument in his head, he realized something: he had ignored her the same way Boone had. The worst part of this revelation was that it led him to the conclusion that he might have been in the wrong. His bruised pride wouldn’t quite let him admit that just yet, but he could admit that he had fucked up arguing with her like that after class. He sighed heavily and walked upstairs desperately wanting dinner and a long shower to wash off the residual idiot off himself. Tomorrow was an early morning and Jack was out camping for with his friend for another three days for spring break. It would be the first spring break he wasn’t spending with him. He had been planning on asking Norah to spend one of those days with him, but that seemed like a bleak prospect at the moment.</span></p><p> <span>“Fuck,” he grumbled opening his door missing the over excited twelve-year-old that would normally be tackling him and asking him to play Mario Kart again. He ate a shitty frozen meal to go with his shitty mood. Afterwards, he showered and went to bed.</span></p><p> <span>The next day wasn’t much better. Norah still wouldn’t look at him, but he managed to complete his evaluation and pass with flying colors. JJ, however, scored with exceptionally flying colors cementing her win over their competition. She was a little too proud of it all. The evaluation went much smoother than the previous morning as Boone didn’t return. After everyone finished their official evaluation, Travers and Norah passed out the last bit of paperwork before they became certified. At the very end, Norah said,</span></p><p> <span>“Congratulations all of you. You all worked hard and passed with above average scores. If you ever have any more questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Travers or me, you all have our contact information.”</span></p><p> <span>The class began to filter out, including Aaron. He didn’t realize that JJ wasn’t behind him until he heard her ask,</span></p><p> <span>“Do you still want to go out tonight?”</span></p><p> <span>He didn’t hear her answer before he let the door shut behind him. He hadn’t been home very long when his phone rang. Caller ID said it was Morgan. Despite him and JJ being out of commission for the past few days, the team was still working, so he wondered if this was about a case.</span></p><p> <span>“Hotchner,” he answered, his professional stern voice hiding the frustration he was feeling.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey man!” Morgan said. “Reid, Rossi and I are heading out to the bars tonight. I know Jack is gone so you should come join us!”</span></p><p> <span>“Morgan, I’m not exactly up to it right now,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Look, I’m going to level with you. JJ mentioned you had a rough day yesterday and I know getting drunk is not a solution, but it is a great reason to be in good company and have fun. We all agreed you won’t have to pay for drinks tonight.”</span></p><p> <span>“…Fine, but I’m not staying out late.”</span></p><p> <span>“We’re going to the usual place.”</span></p><p> <span>“What time?” he asked, already weary.</span></p><p> <span>“We’ll meet in another hour. It will be fun I promise!”</span></p><p> <span>Hotch wasn’t sure how much he believed Morgan, but it sounded better than moping in his apartment trying to figure out how to apologize to a woman who might not want to speak to him anymore. He tried not to think about what could happen if she didn’t accept his apology, because that would devastate him in a way he was not prepared to analyze just yet. Regardless he kept the polo he’d worn at the class today and just slid on his shoes. Before he left, he managed to eat something, so he wasn’t drinking on an empty stomach. Last time he’d gone out Morgan had challenged him to a drinking contest, and he didn’t see straight for most of the next day. He had been much younger then. The bar was busy when he arrived, but not obscenely so. It wasn’t hard to find Rossi and Morgan near the back of the bar already drinking.</span></p><p> <span>“Where’s Reid?” he asked. The two men pointed towards the dance floor where Reid was awkwardly dancing with a girl dancing just as awkwardly.</span></p><p> <span>“My god,” Morgan said, he sounded almost proud.</span></p><p> <span>“Has anyone checked if hell froze over?” Hotch asked mildly. Rossi chuckled into his scotch.</span></p><p> <span>“What are ya drinking, Aaron?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Whatever lager they have on tap,” he replied. Rossi nodded and disappeared up to the bar.</span></p><p> <span>“Is anyone else coming?” He asked Morgan.</span></p><p> <span>“Nah, JJ and Garcia said something about a ladies’ night. Might run into them though, I know Garcia likes this place,” Morgan replied.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron always wondered how much she and Morgan hung out after work. Somehow, he couldn’t imagine Garcia enjoying the same haunts as Morgan, but every so often their knowledge of each other surprised him, though it probably shouldn’t at this point. Thankfully, Morgan never asked why his previous day was so hard and he sure as hell never planned to bring it up. When Rossi returned with his beer, they started an in-depth conversation about the guy at the bar desperately trying to pick up women Rossi had witnessed getting Aaron’s drink.</span></p><p> <span>“I feel bad for the man. Not even Pretty Boy struck out that much,” Morgan said as they subtly watched the over eager man hit on every woman who walked through the door. Now that it was May and the weather warmer, some of the bar outfits he saw were showing more skin.</span></p><p> <span>“Who didn’t strike out as much?” Reid asked, finally coming back over to their table.</span></p><p> <span>“The over eager aggressor over at the bar,” Rossi told him, jutting his chin in the general direction. They watched as he got rejected by at least the fifth woman.</span></p><p> <span>“He’s not that bad looking?” Reid started confused.</span></p><p> <span>“Ah, but I overheard his pickup lines and they functioned more like creepy observations. I think I overheard him use the word bosom,” Rossi replied shaking his head.</span></p><p> <span>“The first known usage of the word bosom was prior to the 12</span><span>th</span><span> century but remains in the top 30% of words used in the English language,” Reid said nodding and sipping on his cocktail.</span></p><p> <span>“No shit, Pretty Boy,” Morgan laughed. “So, who was that you were dancing with?”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t know she just came up to me and asked me to dance,” he said, shrugging. “She disappeared so I headed back over here.”</span></p><p> <span>“I think she’s coming this way,” Aaron said watching as the awkward dancer meandered over to their table.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m leaving, but you should uh…call me,” she said, handing Reid a napkin with her name and phone number on it.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh my god,” Morgan said. “I can’t believe Reid was the first one of us to get a number tonight.”</span></p><p> <span>“The era of women desiring muscle-y alpha males are over Morgan, nerdy guys are in now,” Reid laughed. Even Aaron cracked a smile as the two of them went up to the bar to get more drinks. He was almost done with his first beer, himself.</span></p><p> <span>“So, what happened with that pretty doctor?” Rossi asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Nothing good,” he replied throwing back the rest of his beer.</span></p><p> <span>“That bad, huh?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“What was so bad?” Morgan asked setting another beer down in front of Aaron.</span></p><p> <span>“Aaron was just telling me how he managed to fuck up his flirtationship with that cute doctor,” Rossi replied.</span></p><p> <span>“The one JJ is friends with who was also a CIA agent?” Morgan asked.</span></p><p> <span>“That’d be the one,” Rossi confirmed. “So, what happened?”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t want to get into it,” he said, chugging a good portion of his new cup.</span></p><p> <span>“That right there definitely indicates you might want to talk about it,” Morgan pointed out. So Aaron did. He told them about Boone, the way he exploded in front of everyone, and how he responded, but then his fight with Norah and how she ignored him for the whole of today.</span></p><p> <span>“I know I need to apologize, but I don’t know if it will be enough,” he said feeling a little looser with two beers in his system.       </span></p><p> <span>The table was silent for a moment until Rossi said, “I think now is a good time for another round.”</span></p><p> <span>“Look man,” Morgan said. “None of us are the best with women, but you don’t have to be in order to know the way you handled that was way more about you than her. If you apologize and she’s worth the stress you’re putting yourself through, she’ll forgive you. If she doesn’t then maybe you should move on.”</span></p><p> <span>As good as that sounded, thinking about moving on from Norah before anything ever happened made him a little more depressed than usual, so when Rossi returned with his third beer, he drank this one slower. Determined to not bring down the mood for the night, he began interrogating Rossi about the woman he went to have lunch with a few days prior. Aaron sunk back into the corner of the booth they were at. It was Reid and Morgan getting up to dance every now and then. He and Rossi were laughing at Morgan as he tried to “make moves” as he put it on a lady in a dark dress. Aaron wasn’t sure what drew his attention to the door, but he looked up just in time to see JJ and Garcia walk in, to his muted surprise, Norah walked in behind them. His mouth went dry when he saw what she was wearing. Her black top was completely sheer sans the black bra she wore under it. Through it he could see each of her tattoos and he realized she had many more than the ones he saw on her arms the other say. She wore tight pants and high heeled boots which made her significantly taller than most of the crowd. Rossi saw him staring and followed his line of sight,</span></p><p> <span>He whistled, “Damn. If I were but a younger man.”</span></p><p> <span>“Fuck,” Aaron muttered.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you going to try and talk to her?” Rossi asked.</span></p><p> <span>“I have no idea if I could look her in the eyes with that shirt on.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m certainly not able to,” he commented. “She has some nice ink.”</span></p><p> <span>“Who has nice ink?” Morgan asked, coming back to the table.</span></p><p> <span>“JJ, Garcia and JJ’s doctor friend just walked in and Dr. Michaelson is wearing a top that has stopped Hotch’s brain.”</span></p><p> <span>Morgan scanned the bar until he saw them, “Damn man. That is a nice-looking woman, great art too.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ugh,” Aaron groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.</span></p><p> <span>For the next hour, Aaron stayed crushed into the back of the booth watching Norah like an absolute stalker. Men seemed to give her a wide berth, which baffled him to no end. The men who did approach her left dejected a few seconds later. At some point in the night the three women walked out to the dance floor and Hotch was able to see some of her tattoos better. She had an elaborate pine tree on her upper back over her spine. Her right shoulder was covered in an intricate floral pattern that crawled down her chest. Under the opposite clavicle was a constellation arrangement. On her left shoulder was the outline of what looked like hands, but he couldn’t tell what they were doing. In her inner elbow were three lines of roman numerals. Despite the way most of the night had gone with men approaching her, one did while they were dancing and whatever he whispered in her ear seemed to work because he wrapped his arms around her waist. Normally Aaron prided himself on his self-control and poker face. His poker face was a scowl, but it worked for most of his life. Right now, though, he knew he was glowering at the pair. Just as soon as they danced together, he kissed her cheek and walked off. Norah walked back to the table where Garcia sat talking to Morgan. Before he lost his nerve, he drained the rest of his beer and walked up to her,</span></p><p> <span>“Can I talk to you?” he asked. She looked at him appraisingly.</span></p><p> <span>“Sure, outside?” she asked. He nodded and she led the way.</span></p><p> <span>The night was chillier than he expected. A few feet away from the door, Norah sat down on the patio wall and gestured for him to say something.</span></p><p> <span>“You look nice,” he said. She looked unimpressed, which was fair based on that intro.</span></p><p> <span>“You could’ve said that inside.”</span></p><p> <span>“That’s not all,” he sucked in a breath, feeling some of the beer’s buzz fading. “I wanted to apologize. About yesterday. You asked me not to get involved and I ignored you and then proceeded to yell at you, completely missing what you were trying to say. I got so angry that he was being such a dick to you, and I wanted to protect you but you’re right. I shouldn’t have gotten involved and I’m sorry. In the future, if you let there be a future, I promise to be better about it. Better about listening and better about controlling myself.”</span></p><p> <span>“Why did you do it? Instigate him?”</span></p><p> <span>“Habit, which sounds like a cop-out, but it’s not. Half of my job is instigating serial killers into confession and Boone was…well, he was easy to read and manipulate. And I’m good at what I do, so I know I could goad him into the reaction I wanted.”</span></p><p> <span>“And what did you want?” she asked, sighing. “I just don’t get why you thought you could get anything substantive from him.”</span></p><p> <span>“I thought I could get him to admit he was intimidated by you,” Aaron replied. Norah looked away and chewed on her lip thoughtfully before saying,</span></p><p> <span>“Didn’t everyone already know? Like, I saw it the moment he called me a nurse. Surely the rest of the class clued into him being a douchebag before yesterday.”</span></p><p> <span>“They did.”</span></p><p> <span>“When I was in Poland and Kosovo I was sexually harassed on a daily basis by colleagues and patients. It was mentally and physically exhausting, but I know how to handle it. I’m good at handling it so it doesn’t resort to a screaming match and a whole new set of issues I have to deal with.”</span></p><p> <span>“I am sorry, Norah,” he said. She was quiet so he said, “I didn’t know that about your time in Europe.”</span></p><p> <span>“Well, it’s not exactly a conversation starter,” she said shortly. She stood, propping her hands on her hips and leveling her gaze at him. “Why did you get so angry at me at the end of the class? Was it because I snapped at you?”</span></p><p> <span>He sighed. “No, I just don’t like being told I’m wrong. I know this about myself and I work on it, but sometimes I have to realize I’m wrong on my own. I was halfway home last night when I came to that conclusion.”</span></p><p> <span>She was silent for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I’m sorry too. I got really angry. I know that you didn’t have bad intentions. I was so…overwhelmed that I took out some of my frustration on you and I shouldn’t have. It was a shitty situation all around. I just…when you said that I should be grateful, I kinda lost it.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron winced, not his best moment. “Not the smartest thing I’ve ever said.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’ve spent so much of my life fending for myself that it’s hard for me to realize that when people are sticking up for me they aren’t challenging me or calling me weak,” she said, then asked, “What did you mean by if I let there be a future?”</span></p><p> <span>“I had a plan,” he said ruefully. “I was going to ask you out tonight. But I’ve decided to hold off until you’re not quite as pissed at me.”</span></p><p> <span>He watched as she processed this information. She let out a sharp laugh, “I’m glad you’re waiting because I am still pissed, but the answer will be yes.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah,” she nodded. “But I will kick your ass if you pull that shit again.”</span></p><p> <span>Maybe it was the beer talking, her extraordinarily sheer shirt or the sexual tension leftover from their kiss a few weeks prior, but Aaron found himself shrugging and saying, “That could be hot.”</span></p><p> <span>“Don’t make me laugh. I'm still mad at you,” she said trying to frown.</span></p><p> <span>“I am sorry.”</span></p><p> <span>“I know and I forgive you,” she replied, making him smile.</span></p><p> <span>“Can I kiss you?” he asked. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, but went past his face and whispered in his ear,</span></p><p> <span>“Nope.” Her hand trailed across his chest as she walked inside. He shamelessly watched her go back to JJ and Garcia.</span></p><p> <span>He did the same and when he saw Morgan, he thanked him for making him come out, but had determined he was going to leave.</span></p><p> <span>“Did it go well?” Morgan asked. Aaron gave the table a small smile and said,</span></p><p> <span>“You know, it went very well, actually.”</span></p><p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>If Norah knew this was going to be the longest day of her life, she wouldn’t have passed on the comfortable cotton underwear for a thong when she was getting dressed in the morning. There were other ways to feel cute that didn’t involve thongs or nice bras. But she felt cute and wanted after last night, even if she was still marginally pissed at Aaron for his antics on Saturday. But the way that he looked at her last night, it made her shiver. She saw him almost immediately after walking in and for most of the night she could feel his eyes on her. Never before had she been more thankful for that sheer top her younger sister made her purchase last time they went shopping together. If they hadn’t been in such an awkward place, she wondered if he would have done something more than ask to kiss her. After her morning shower, she got dressed and made herself coffee. Watching the sunrise from her porch was something she always enjoyed, and the fresh air coupled with Spoon’s happy galloping made it the most peaceful part of her day.</span>
</p><p> <span>Regardless of how much she wanted to sit down and do nothing, she had to be at work. Once her coffee cup had been drained, she grabbed her lunch and work bag. On a good day her drive took an hour, the hazard of living in the middle of nowhere, but this morning it was looking like she was going to have to add another ten minutes due to the heavy traffic. Despite the additional delay she made it on time and managed to have a quick meeting with her shift. Around 9am she was standing at the nurse’s station talking with a few other residents when the news caught her attention. She turned up the volume and caught the news anchor saying,</span></p><p> <span>“…we’re coming to you live at Northern Virginia Community College where an unidentified male has been cornered in the southwest section of the science building. He’s already claimed the lives of six and there are an unknown number of injuries. FBI and local police are on the scene now…” before she finished her sentence, the building behind her exploded. Norah felt her stomach drop, and before she got the call from dispatch she immediately yelled,</span></p><p> <span>“We have trauma incoming! Harry, I need you to clear out anyone who isn’t critical. Crystal and Dr. Gomez, we’re going to have a lot of incoming, you’ll need to keep walking wounded out in the bay we won’t be able to keep them in here. ER techs?” she called.</span></p><p> <span>Two young women came running up to her. They looked new, but hopefully they wouldn’t lose their heads. She steeled herself and said, “Get everything from the stockroom, suture kits, bandages, tourniquets. When we run out, steal it from other parts of the hospital, I don’t care. Make sure we have what we need. Bethany, I need you to call all the blood banks, get as much blood as you can. We’re going to need it. All right everyone, this isn’t a car crash. This is going to get so much worse. I need your focus and emotions in check. If you feel like you’re going to lose it, lose it away from the patients. If any other doctors or nurses come in, which they probably will, put them in the game. I don’t give a shit about overtime today.”</span></p><p> <span>After everyone split up, going to do their assigned jobs, the red dispatch phone rang. Norah answered it and assured them that they were prepared. Within ten minutes they had their first five patients. They weren’t critical cases, so Norah handed them off to residents and PAs. The first gunshot wound that came in was highly critical. Norah rushed up to him, the yellow paper gown that was meant to protect her scrubs from too much blood or fluids was tied tightly around her and pulled him into Trauma room 2.</span></p><p> <span>“He’s tachy,” Tara, a seasoned nurse said. She had a solid head and was one of the calmest medical professionals in the room right now.</span></p><p> <span>“Keep an eye on his blood pressure and hang a unit of O-Neg, we need to get him stable,” she said. He had been shot in the leg, but it looked like it had nicked his artery. “I need scissors.”</span></p><p> <span>Someone handed her scissors and she cut through the pants of this boy. Looking at him he couldn’t be more than twenty, he had his whole life ahead of him and she was going to do her best to make sure he was alive and able to live it. After cleaning around the wound she was able to get a better look at it. The bullet had lodged itself inside the boy’s leg. She needed to remove it and stop the bleeding. Grabbing the lamp in the trauma room, she pointed it at the wound. Rattling off requests, her staff of nurses and residents managed to get the bullet out and stabilize him long enough to get his leg x-rayed. Norah ditched her bloodied apron and walked out into her ER to find it was twice as full as it had been when she went in with the gunshot wound.</span></p><p> <span>“Status update?” she asked the nurse.</span></p><p> <span>“20 walking wounded out in the bay with Dr. Gomez and a nurse. Thirteen critical who are on their way up to surgery or being stabilized. Fifteen still needing to be evaluated with more incoming.”</span></p><p> <span>“Any word on how many St. James or Mount Vernon is taking?”</span></p><p> <span>“Mount Vernon is too small to handle it, but are taking nonevent ER patients. St. James is taking a little less than a fourth of incoming,” the nurse told her. Norah expected that, but it didn’t mean she had to like it. Before she could voice the annoyance.</span></p><p> <span>“We have someone crashing!” An EMT Norah recognized as Emmett yelled. He was on the gurney giving CPR to a patient in terrible shape. Norah saw third degree burns and shrapnel wounds. She couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl.</span></p><p> <span>“Give me some stats,” she said running with the gurney. She grabbed a new apron on her way to the trauma room. The stats boiled down to, this body has been blown up and there is severe chest trauma. “Okay, we’ll get them stabilized and then right into surgery.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah called two residents to help her with this patient and they went about cataloguing the wounds and making a game plan. The first resident, Graham, started a central line and hung two units of O-Neg. The second resident took over chest compressions while Norah grabbed the crash cart. They gave the patient a shot of epinephrine and shocked the heart. To their surprise, it started back up again the rhythm was slow, and the BP was dropping, but she would take what she could get. They managed to stop the aggressive bleeding long enough to wheel the patient up to surgery where she passed them off to the trauma team. For the next eight hours Norah jumped between critical cases, shrapnel removal, sutures and broken bones. She hardly had a moment to breathe, much less sit down.</span></p><p> <span>The last case she dealt with was a woman with an open fracture and severe shrapnel wounds. Despite her grave injuries, she was conscious and responding well. Once they got her stable enough, she went into surgery as well. Norah needed a breather and found herself leaning up against the wall of the nurses’ station still in her bloody apron. She managed to calm down just enough to realize that her thong was exceptionally uncomfortable, but before she could do anything about it, Bethany was sprinting towards her.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re needed ASAP! The FBI is bringing in the bomber’s partner. He has two GSWs to the chest and abdomen. They want him alive.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah raced after her and arrived at the bay just as the ambulance was wheeling in a man handcuffed to the gurney. He was thrashing and fighting. There was screaming, but Norah couldn’t tell if that was coming from the guy on the gurney or the agents following behind him. Somewhere in the back of her head, Norah processed that Aaron and JJ were bringing him in, but at the moment that wasn’t her main concern.</span></p><p> <span>“Stats,” she yelled, taking over running with the gurney.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m going to make you all go fucking boom!” the patient yelled at her.</span></p><p> <span>“Lay back down,” she snapped, pushing him back against the bed. They transported him into the biggest trauma room and Norah ripped open his shirt to take a look at the wounds; she didn’t acknowledge the suggestive comment he made, but Aaron snapped at him. The one through his abdomen went straight through him, but the second bullet was lodged somewhere in his chest. She ordered an x-ray and then started packing the abdomen wound. While she was working, she could hear the agents yelling and jostling the medical staff in the room.</span></p><p> <span>“Everyone STOP MOVING!” She shouted. “If you are not a medical profession your back needs to be touching the fucking wall.”</span></p><p> <span>“You heard the doctor,” JJ said behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friend pushing local police against the wall. The bomber was still yelling and thrashing against the bonds, but Norah was still able to continue packing the wound.</span></p><p> <span>“Fuck it hurts!” he howled.</span></p><p> <span>Norah was about to order someone to sedate him, but Aaron stepped up. “We need him to be awake and talking. There’s another bomb.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah went cold. “No drugs,” she told the man lying in front of her.</span></p><p> <span>“Aren’t doctors supposed to do no harm?” he yelled at her.</span></p><p> <span>“The pain won’t kill you,” she said shortly as she continued to clean and pack the wound in his abdomen.</span></p><p> <span>She heard the door open and a nurse said, “X-Ray is open.”</span></p><p> <span>“Okay, get ready to move him. Three agents max, the x-ray room is too small for all of you,” she announced. They could figure out themselves who was going. The nurse had already set up the x-ray room, so they wheeled up the bomber.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m going to stay in here with him,” Morgan said. Norah hadn’t even realized he had come in. She nodded and put the lead vest on him. While she, JJ, Aaron and an x-ray tech went behind the wall.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you both okay?” she asked not taking her eyes away from the bombing suspect a few feet away.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah,” JJ confirmed. “Are you?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’ve been better. I’ll try and get him stabilized as quickly as possible, but I can’t promise he won’t need surgery with where that bullet looks to be,” she told them.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron scowled. “Rossi and Reid are tearing his place apart. Hopefully they’ll find something. But this man can and will try to kill you, Norah.”</span></p><p> <span>“Hmm, heard that before,” she replied. “To be fair though that guy did end up biting me.”</span></p><p> <span>“Geez,” JJ breathed.</span></p><p> <span>“Dr. Michaelson, here’s the x-rays,” the tech announced. Norah bent down and looked at the computer read out. It was promising. The bullet had lodged itself pretty close to the entrance wound and far enough away from anything major that she could grab it and repair any damage without surgery.</span></p><p> <span>“Great thanks,” she said. “All right, dick head. Let’s get this bullet out of your chest.”</span></p><p> <span>She and the nurse rolled him back to the trauma room where most of the local police had filtered out, leaving Norah three nurses and the three FBI agents tending to his wounds. He was still kicking and spitting at everyone and everything that got close to him. Norah had her forceps in his chest when he started wheezing, concerned she pulled them out and placed her ear closer to his head trying to figure out why he was making that noise. Had she missed how close it was to his lung? A split second after leaning her head down she felt him head-butt her near her temple. He just hit her upper jaw, but it still hurt like a bitch.</span></p><p> <span>“Fuck!” she shouted.</span></p><p> <span>“Lay back you son of a bitch,” Aaron shouted, pulling his shoulders back against the bed. Bethany raced over and looked at her. Norah could feel the blood filling up in her mouth, so she leaned over the sink and spit out a mouth full of blood.</span></p><p> <span>“Jesus Christ,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“You need to get your face x-rayed,” Bethany said.</span></p><p> <span>“No one else is touching this guy,” she said. “I can get the bullet out and then the agents can do with him what they want.”</span></p><p> <span>“I told you I’d get you,” he yelled laughing maniacally.</span></p><p> <span>“Shut up,” Morgan said, holding him down.</span></p><p> <span>Norah spit more blood in the sink and shoved a cotton pad where she felt like she bit her tongue or maybe cheek, it was bleeding too much for her to tell. Plus, her mouth and cheek hurt like a bitch. Without another word, she went back to working on the man with Aaron and Morgan holding him down. Even though two large men were holding him down, he still managed to thrash around doing his best to make Norah’s job a living hell. Eventually, she had enough. Pulling the bloody cotton pad out of her mouth (perhaps the grossest and strongest power move she’d ever done), grabbed his chin and said,</span></p><p> <span>“Do you want to die right here, or do you want to see the havoc you wreaked with your bomb? Because if you don’t stop moving, you’re going to die, and you won’t get to see how afraid everyone is of you. So calm the fuck down so I can pull the fucking bullet out of your chest!”</span></p><p> <span>“You’re all going to rue the day—” he started.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, my god,” Norah said. She grabbed one of Aaron’s hand’s and had him hold the bombing suspect down on the left side of his chest while she grabbed her forceps and dug the bullet out. It took much longer than it normally would have, but she managed to grab it and start cleaning the wound. If she grabbed traditional alcohol instead of a wound cleaning solution to soak the gauze in, then she didn’t plan to say anything. He howled when she started the cleaning process. He desperately needed stitches, but she doubted that he was going to calm down enough to allow her to complete the delicate process, so she packed his wound and stuck a bandage on him. She and Bethany gave him a once over to make sure that there weren’t any more deadly wounds for them to treat before she let the agents interrogate him.</span></p><p> <span>“He’s all yours, agents. I’ll need to stay in the room to make sure he doesn’t die though,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“You need to get your jaw x-rayed,” Bethany said.</span></p><p> <span>“I didn’t break my jaw, Bethany. But I’ll take an ice pack,” she told her friend. Bethany rolled her eyes but left to grab an ice pack.</span></p><p> <span>“Where did you and Josh meet?” Aaron asked.</span></p><p> <span>Norah had parked herself in the back corner against the wall next to the sink. She had stuffed another cotton pad in her mouth as it kept bleeding, but she took this time to roll her shoulders back and pull off her disgustingly bloody apron. Bethany slipped in and handed her the requested ice pack which she held against the back of her jaw and cheek. With uninterested eyes, she watched as Aaron and Morgan took turns asking the man questions. They weren’t playing good cop bad cop, but they were trying to get in his head and doing a damn good job of it. Norah really wasn’t paying attention until Aaron said,</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, so the second bomb is in the administration building?”</span></p><p> <span>The guy flailed against his handcuffs in response. JJ nodded and went out in the hallway to call someone.</span></p><p> <span>“Can I sedate him now?” She asked, her speech slightly muffled by the cotton pad in her mouth.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron shook his head, “No, I want confirmation before we knock him out.”</span></p><p> <span>“You bastards!” the guy yelled.</span></p><p> <span>Norah rolled her eyes and pulled the cotton pad out of her mouth again. It looked like most of the blood flow had stopped. Now that her mouth was not filled with coppery tasting blood, she could feel the part of her check that split when he had headbutted her. She grabbed a q-tip and oral safe antibiotic cream, lightly dabbing the cut in her mouth. It hurt like a motherfucker, but it wouldn’t need stitches. Aaron stood next her and asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Are you sure you’re okay? He hit you really hard.” He softly touched the bruised skin on her cheek, looking concerned.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”</span></p><p> <span>“Right, I forgot you were bitten,” he said quietly.</span></p><p> <span>“You were bitten?” Morgan asked, appalled.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, the guy was huffing bath salts and thought I was the devil or something. To be fair to him, I feel like that’s a fair reaction to the devil.”</span></p><p> <span>“Doctors are fucking crazy,” Morgan replied shaking his head.</span></p><p> <span>JJ walked back in and said, “They found the second bomb. Bomb tech thinks they can diffuse it and are clearing the rest of the building now.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron nodded, “Good. Can you sedate him?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, he’ll need to stay overnight, but the FBI can take him tomorrow morning,” she told him as she loaded a syringe with a sedative. It wouldn’t knock him out, but it would calm him down significantly.</span></p><p> <span>“We’ll have two cops in here until we take him back into custody. You shouldn’t let anyone in here alone,” Morgan said.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I have a decent sized bruise to support that,” she told him. She gave him the sedative and once he was significantly calmer, she quickly stitched up his chest wound. Content with her work, she let Morgan call in local PD to stand guard over him while she walked out into the ER.</span></p><p> <span>“You really should get your face x-rayed, it’s swelling pretty bad,” Aaron said quietly as she sat down at a computer.</span></p><p> <span>“I have another hour on my shift, I’ll do it then,” she told him as she began to write in the bomber’s medical chart.</span></p><p> <span>“No, you’ll do it now,” JJ said with Bethany behind her. JJ and Aaron all but frog marched her to the x-ray room where she sat glowering at them until her x-ray finished.</span></p><p> <span>She walked back to look at it. There was no fracture, which secretly surprised her. She was going to have a gnarly bruise but overall, she was going to be fine. In order to placate her friend, she did take a strong dose of Tylenol and continued to ice her face as she charted and got the final report from the day’s tragedy.  Nearly fifteen people were DOA from the blast site, another five died in the ER or in surgery. Thirty-seven were wounded and another fifteen had severe complications from their wounds. They had completely run out of O-Neg twice with other hospitals and blood banks sending their stockpiles. Norah was so engrossed in her work that she hadn’t noticed Aaron was leaning up against her workstation,</span></p><p> <span>“What are you still doing here?” she asked. “Why aren’t you with Jack?”</span></p><p> <span>“He is on Spring Break this week and camping with a friend. For which I am very grateful,” he told her. “And I’m still here because your shift ends in twenty minutes and I’m taking you home.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m fine, Aaron.”</span></p><p> <span>“You had a head injury. You’re not driving an hour home,” he said. She opened her mouth about to argue with him, but sighed.</span></p><p> <span>“Fine. But that means you have to pick me up tomorrow so I can get my car from the lot,” she told him. He nodded.</span></p><p> <span>She finished her charting and when the next shift came to relieve her, she gave them an update on the patients that were still in the ER either awaiting tests or staying for observation. Once she was done, Aaron walked up to her and said,</span></p><p> <span>“Are you ready?”</span></p><p> <span>“No, I’m going to change and maybe rinse the blood off of me real fast,” she told him. He nodded and said, “I’m going to wait outside for you.”</span></p><p> <span>She nodded and squeezed his hand. It didn’t take her very long to change into her extra set of clothes she kept in her locker. Not more than ten minutes later she rinsed off, changed out of her godforsaken thong and replaced her bloodied scrubs with leggings and a sweatshirt. She walked outside and saw Aaron sitting on a bench a couple hundred yards from the main ER entrance against a concrete wall. He stood when he saw her, and waited for her to walk towards him.</span></p><p> <span>“How’s your face?” he asked, taking her chin in his forefinger and thumb. He gently turned her face so he could see the side. It wasn’t quite dark outside, but she doubted he could really see it in the dim lighting. Softly, he stroked her cheek with his thumb, cupping her jaw with his hand. She ran her hand up and down his forearm trying to convey that she really was okay. Her other hand, the one dangling by her side, found his and she intertwined their fingers. His eyebrows were furrowed and the lines on his face seemed to deepen the longer he looked at her. Despite their proximity for the past few hours, she wasn’t sure how he was doing.</span></p><p> <span>“To be honest with you, I didn’t look at it when I was changing. I didn’t want to see my face black and blue,” she laughed, but immediately winced.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m sorry you couldn’t sedate him. Maybe if you had…” he trailed off.</span></p><p> <span>“Aaron, this is such a standard ER injury. Most of them, I’ll admit, are not intentional injuries, but I’ve been hit before,” she told him, cupping the hand that was resting against her jaw softly. “How are you? You had an equally awful day.”</span></p><p> <span>“We caught them, and that’s what I remember,” he told her quietly. They were still loosely intertwined and even if he had tried to pull away, Norah doubted she would have let him.</span></p><p> <span>“True, but I think it would be okay to realize that you went through a terrible thing today,” she replied softly.</span></p><p> <span>“We were some of the first people on the scene after the bomb went off and the building collapsed. And I can’t forget the smell,” he said, closing his eyes.</span></p><p> <span>“Of what?” Norah had a guess, but let him answer.</span></p><p> <span>“People…dying, being burned by the fire it started. I’ve seen it all, but all of us stopped for a second. There were hundreds of people in that building. I still don’t know the total death toll.”</span></p><p> <span>“Did you find out why?” she asked him.</span></p><p> <span>He cleared his throat and looked at her with shiny eyes. “Yeah, they were both psychopaths. The one that headbutted you, Parker, he was the mastermind and manipulated Josh into shooting up the school. We don’t think Josh knew about the bomb. But Parker wanted to see the world burn and he did a pretty good job.”</span></p><p> <span>“There’s never going to be an answer that feels good enough for the destruction we witnessed today,” she agreed.</span></p><p> <span>“You know, you’re a pretty impressive doctor,” he told her, taking a small step closer, so their bodies were touching.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re a very intimidating FBI agent,” she stated grinning, despite the angry stab of pain in her cheek. He cocked his head,</span></p><p> <span>“Intimidating?”</span></p><p> <span>“Oh yeah. I wouldn’t last a second if you were questioning me,” she told him. She watched him swallow hard and the red flush creep up his neck. She hoped he had the same visual that she did. </span></p><p> <span>“Hey Norah?” he asked. There was an odd look on his face.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah?”</span></p><p> <span>“Do you want to go on a date with me? If you’re not still upset, that is.”</span></p><p> <span>“After today, I don’t have the capacity to be upset, but yes,” she breathed. He smiled down at her. “Also, I know you’re a little freaked about my face, but if you want to push me against that wall back there, the one that is covered by the building’s shadow, and kiss me within an inch of my life, I think I’ll live. In fact, I think it would make me feel better.”</span></p><p> <span>“Well, you’re the doctor,” he replied. They were only a couple steps away from the wall, and he backed her up against it, cupping the back of her head before he pushed her body into it.</span></p><p> <span>“Fuck that was hot,” she breathed making him smile.</span></p><p> <span>His hand was still on the back of her head, so she grabbed his face and pulled him down against her. Despite the aggression of pushing her against the wall, his first kiss was tentative, soft and a little quick if she said so herself. Whining when he pulled away, Norah wrapped her arms around his neck and he finally got the hint. His skin was stubbly, and she was certain they both smelled like hospital, sweat and blood. The second kiss was hungry and searing. She felt herself gasp as he leaned into her, the hard lines of his body forcing her more thoroughly against the wall. She kissed him back possessively, probably bruising both of their lips. The hand that wasn’t cradling her head, slipped under her baggy sweatshirt and rested on her hip, squeezing as they continued their heated embrace. Norah felt like she could do this for hours. Being this close with Aaron, the way she’d been imaging for months, made her feel like she was floating. There was no injury in the world that would distract her from how he felt wholly pressed against her in a dark corner outside her hospital. She felt like a naughty teenager sneaking make out sessions under the bleachers.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron felt the same. Being this close to Norah was intoxicating. She was soft and welcoming, but aggressively pulling him closer to her. It was the most inebriating juxtaposition he’d had the pleasure of experiencing. Her arms around his neck moved and wrapped around his midsection, pulling him in so he could feel every heave of her chest. She didn’t smell like sweat, that was probably him, but he could smell the coppery scent of blood. However, the more his brain clued into that scent, he realized he could taste it too. Pulling away, he rested his forehead against her. They were both breathing heavily.</span></p><p> <span>“I think your mouth is bleeding again,” he whispered. She groaned.</span></p><p> <span>“God that’s not very sexy is it?” she asked. He laughed and planted a lingering kiss on her temple.</span></p><p> <span>“Trust me when I say, what we just did was very sexy,” he told her, still desperately trying to catch his breath. She looked up at him and said,</span></p><p> <span>“You can push me against a wall to make out with me anytime, Agent Hotchner.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah calling him ‘Agent Hotchner’ stirred something in him and it went straight to his pants. He wasn’t sure if Norah noticed or just wanted to make him suffer, but she brushed her hips against him causing a low groan. She chuckled and he knew she had done it on purpose, “That was evil.”</span></p><p> <span>“Evil?” she asked innocently. “What did I do?”</span></p><p> <span>He smirked ruefully, “We should head back, before I completely lose my head.”</span></p><p> <span>“You know, I’ve never really met Agent Hotchner the way I did today,” she told him as they walked back to his car.</span></p><p> <span>“What do you mean?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“The tough, no nonsense agent whose voice is exceptionally commanding. If I hadn’t been in doctor mode…” she trailed off suggestively.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re really enjoying yourself,” he replied, opening the door for her. She smiled at him.</span></p><p> <span>He quickly got in the driver’s side and started the car. Norah had settled back into her seat with her seatbelt buckled. She tossed her bag in the back and said,</span></p><p> <span>“Want to grab something to eat before we head back to my house?”</span></p><p> <span>“Sounds good. Your choice, since you got headbutted by my suspect,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you going to kiss it and make it better?” she asked, her eyes dancing playfully.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re the doctor,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“I’ll give you my official recommendation when we arrive,” she grinned.</span></p><p> <span>There wasn’t a lot of talking on the ride back to her house. Despite their heated make out session against a dark wall earlier, they were both mentally and physically exhausted. They grabbed some food before they pulled onto the country road that led to her rural house. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Spoon was racing out towards them, only stopped by the gate into the backyard. Aaron grabbed Norah’s bag while she jogged to the gate and opened it only to be tackled to the ground by her dog. Tackled was probably a strong word. If she was anywhere near as tired as he was, she might have just collapsed while Spoon capitalized on the moment. When Spoon realized there was another person to jump and slobber on, she ditched Norah which gave her the opportunity to get up and lead her dog inside. Aaron followed, setting her stuff on the kitchen counter. He leaned against the very same counter he almost kissed her against a few weeks prior.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey Norah?” he asked. She was setting her lunch box in the sink. “Can you come here for a second?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah?” she asked puzzled.</span></p><p> <span>When she was close enough, he grabbed her hand and pulled her against him. “Last time we were here we were interrupted.”</span></p><p> <span>She looked up at him and with a challenging tone in her voice she said, “I seem to remember you chickening out from kissing me, despite the months of flirting preceding that night.”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t recall you making any moves that night either,” he replied back. They were pressed against each other, faces nearly touching. He could feel each exhale she let out. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his midsection.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, but I’d made every move before that. I invited you to my house, you recall.”</span></p><p> <span>“We’ll have to agree to disagree,” he replied. She smirked,</span></p><p> <span>“I think you misunderstand how much I like to be right,” she told him grinning. “I always make the first move.”</span></p><p> <span>As if to prove her point, she leaned up and slotted her lips against his. Her kiss was soft and as soon as it started, she pulled back leaving him more than a little disappointed.</span></p><p> <span>“I could do that all night,” he sighed.</span></p><p> <span>She grinned, “Watch out there, Aaron. I might make you.”</span></p><p> <span>His arms tightened around her waist before she made the move to pull away, and he kissed her again. While it was not the shadowy make out session they had at the hospital, he was positive his lips were going to be bruised and swollen tomorrow. The way she angled her face and pulled him closer made the intimacy of the kiss that much greater. He vaguely recalled holding her tightly against his body when realizing that her hand that had been wrapped around him, was sinking lower until it gripped his ass. He couldn’t help but chuckle into their kiss, making her pull back.</span></p><p> <span>“Did you grab my ass?” he asked breathlessly.</span></p><p> <span>“It’s a good ass. I won’t feel bad for it. Unless you were not comfortable, then I won’t do it again.” It was the first, if not only, time he saw her insecure.</span></p><p> <span>“Keep doing it,” he settled on when he couldn’t find a more appropriate way to say, “I’d always let you grab my ass if we had the time and privacy.”</span></p><p> <span>She grinned at him and pulled away to finish putting her work stuff away. “Do you want to stay?”</span></p><p> <span>Her tone was casual and noncommittal, and while he knew she wouldn’t take it personally if he said no, recognizing the kind of day they had, he also knew that she wanted him to stay just as badly as he wanted to stay. Her body language was not as good at camouflaging her intentions as her tone was. “I do.”</span></p><p> <span>She turned back around and said, “To be clear and upfront, I don’t want sex tonight. Today was not a day that should be followed with…”</span></p><p> <span>“I understand,” he told her. “And you haven’t even taken me out to dinner yet, and I don’t put out so easily.”</span></p><p> <span>She laughed, “Did you just make a joke.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m funny,” he protested, which made her laugh harder. “I have a go-bag in my car.”</span></p><p> <span>“Go-bag?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh, when we called away on cases, we always have ‘go-bags’ packed with a couple days’ worth of clothing. More importantly it has pants that I didn’t wear in a bomb crime scene.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, you still smell vaguely like hospital and blood,” she replied, sniffing his suit jacket. “Grab your stuff and I’ll show you the shower. Towels are under the counter.”</span></p><p> <span>Dutifully, he jogged outside and grabbed his bag from his trunk and walked back inside. She showed him through her bedroom and into her bathroom. Before walking out, she grabbed a couple things from her closet and turned the shower on for him. After she shut the door, he looked around her bathroom. It was neat and clean. There was a large tub in the corner with an opaque glass shower next to it. The toilet was off in antechamber room. There was art all over her bathroom. Some of it was suggestive, like the metal wire outline of a female figure hanging over her toilet, but others were innocuous like the art print of Michelangelo’s David blowing a large bubble of bubble gum that hung over her bathtub.</span></p><p> <span>The inside of her shower looked as much the same as the outside. It was neat and clean, an ascending series of shelves in the wall. The top shelf was body wash, she had different smells and a non-scented option. Despite having more scented washes, all were more than half full while the non-scented one was almost empty. Being an ER doctor must not allow her to use the scented ones as often. The next shelf had shaving cream and a razor, there was a small container that held an exfoliant. The last shelf held her shampoo. Even though he felt bad about profiling her bathroom, it was hard to turn off. She was a stereotypical doctor and a stereotypical woman who lived alone. Based on the sheer amount of bathroom products and art, it was easy to see. He quickly pulled out his bathroom products from his bag and grabbed a towel from under the counter. There was a clear shelving unit that had different beauty products, most of which he didn’t recognize. They also seemed to be organized by category and meticulously placed. He suspected that the meticulousness spoke more to her time in the CIA than it did being a doctor.</span></p><p> <span>Regardless of his unnecessary time spent slightly snooping in his girlfriend’s—almost girlfriend’s?—belongings, he showered and changed into a t-shirt and loose plaid pants in less than twenty minutes. The small action of showering the day off of himself, made him feel more awake than he had all day. He opened the bathroom door to find Norah in different clothes sitting on the edge of her bed staring at her phone. Instead of the hoodie and leggings she had been wearing a few minutes prior, she was in shorts that gave him a clear view of every tattoo that resided on her legs and a faded t-shirt. When he walked out she glanced up, and said,</span></p><p> <span>“They have a final death count for the day,” she said. “Obviously that is subjected to change depending on what happens over the next week, but so far only 29 people are dead. Not bad considering some of the damage I saw today.”</span></p><p> <span>He sat down next to her on the bed and sighed, “The scene was not nice.”</span></p><p> <span>“He used nails, tacks, and gravel as shrapnel. It ripped people apart. I spent well over an hour picking gravel and thumb tacks out of a woman’s back this afternoon,” sighed Norah.</span></p><p> <span>“After days like this the Bureau gives us a few days off and mandatory counseling. The more days like this I see, the more I understand. I couldn’t imagine going into work tomorrow,” he told her. She stood and he couldn’t help letting his eyes trail over her body. She had a large floral tattoo on her right thigh and a smattering of smaller tattoos on her left. One in particular caught his eye.</span></p><p> <span>“Is that an outline of a tree growing?” he asked. She looked down at the tattoo that resided in the middle of her thigh.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I got it right out of college. It was my second tattoo. I based it on a quote by John Stuart Mill,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“The utilitarian philosopher?” he asked intrigued. She chuckled,</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I had to take a philosophy class in college and he was my favorite. In one of his essays he is talking about human nature and said, ‘Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of inward forces which make it a living thing.’ And something about that really resonated with me at that time. Still does I guess,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“So a growing tree,” he replied nodding. “It’s beautiful.”</span></p><p> <span>“Thank you. This is that tattoo that gave me a taste for them. All in places that can be covered of course,” she told him. “I actually have a normal pine tree from the same quote on my back.”</span></p><p> <span>“I saw it,” he told her before he could stop it.</span></p><p> <span>“At the bar last night?”</span></p><p> <span>He nodded. She smiled and as she walked towards her bathroom said, “I’m going to brush my teeth and then probably watch TV before I go to bed.”</span></p><p> <span>“I can wait,” he told her. She chuckled and pulled her hair back. It didn’t take her long to wash her face and brush her teeth. There was something so novel about watching Norah get “unready” after the day and the emotional rollercoaster he had. He watched her pull out contacts and put on a pair of clear acrylic glasses. He hadn’t known she even wore glasses.</span></p><p> <span>“God, my eyes were hurting so bad,” she told him, blinking furiously.</span></p><p> <span>“How long have you worn glasses?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Third grade. I failed a geography test because I couldn’t see where my teacher was pointing, but made a 100 on my retake. She was a shitty teacher, but put it together I couldn’t see for shit.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’ve never needed glasses, although sometimes I think I might need to buy a pair of reading ones,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“I didn’t start wearing contacts until my residency, they make my eyes hurt and for a long time, contacts were just a pain in the ass if you had bad eyesight. And I have </span><em><span>bad</span></em><span> eyesight,” she told him laughing.</span></p><p> <span>“They look very you,” he told her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back down to the living room where she pulled a couple blankets out from behind her couch before sitting down.</span></p><p> <span>Her grey sectional was overstuffed, inviting, and looked like heaven after a fully exhausting day. Norah collapsed in the corner with the long chaise, so he plopped down next to her, nearly groaning at how nice it felt to really sit down somewhere not in a car or hospital. After his shower he felt clean and now he finally felt like he could relax. Having Norah next to him was a plus. Once she turned on some baking show, she relaxed back into the corner of the couch and tucked the blanket around her. He wasn’t sure how long he managed to stay awake, but he seemed to remember something about a technical challenge. Some undetermined amount of time later, he felt Norah gently shake him awake. He must have still been half asleep.</span></p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh my god, all of y'all who left comments were so sweet and kind. I'm almost done writing the story and I've estimated about ten chapters when it's complete. It'll be done pretty soon! Thanks for all the kind words, seriously. It has made my week!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was the sunlight that finally did him in. The bright light was shining in through a sliding glass door he hadn’t noticed the night before. It led out to a balcony that looked over the side of her property and part of the road. He saw Spoon sprawled out on the patio and what looked like Norah’s legs extended across to rest in a chair. The rest of her was hidden by the wall. He quickly checked his phone and found nothing of importance waiting for him, so he slowly eased himself out of bed noticing the drool mark on the pillow he was laying on. He really must have been out last night. When he walked out on her balcony the chilly morning air shocked him some, but Norah looked up from her laptop and gestured to her mug,</span>
</p><p> <span>“There’s coffee in the kitchen.”</span></p><p> <span>She was still in her shorts, but had on a sweatshirt over her t-shirt. Even though his brain was still waking up, he nodded at her and wandered downstairs to her kitchen. Her coffee pot was still warm and there was a large mug sitting next to it. The mug had an outline of Texas on it with the phrases “Everything is bigger in Texas” stamped over the outline. It was the most Texas thing Norah had done. He poured himself some of the coffee and added a splash of milk and sugar before walking back up to her balcony. It didn’t look like she had moved. If anything the furrow of her brow had him curious as to what she was doing. He sat down next to her and with the warm coffee he felt the morning’s chill recede.</span></p><p> <span>“What has you so upset this morning?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m reading hospital reports. I get daily updates since I’m in charge of the ER. We’re a lot lower on blood than I thought we were and almost entirely out of suture kits. Trauma and ICU are at capacity, but it looks like St. James and Mount Vernon are taking some of our patients and giving us a bit of their stockpile, which will help. Still, the lack of blood is concerning.”</span></p><p> <span>“Did you get an updated death count?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, two more people died last night. I worked on one of them and frankly I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did. He lost his arm and leg in the blast, had substantial shrapnel and burn wounds. I can’t believe he made it out of surgery, frankly,” she sighed. With one last look at her laptop she closed it and set it down. “How did you sleep?”</span></p><p> <span>“Last thing I remember is something about a technical challenge?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“You were out hard last night. I was worried I’d have to leave you on the couch, but you managed to sleepily walk upstairs with me. You drool in your sleep,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“I noticed that,” he winced. “How long did you sleep for?”</span></p><p> <span>“About six hours, which is pretty standard for me. I’ve been up since seven,” she told him. He glanced at his watch, it was just after 8:30.</span></p><p> <span>“What are your plans for the day?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’ll have to go up to the hospital for some administrative stuff at 2pm, but nothing beforehand,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“Should we make breakfast?” he hedged.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I think that can happen. I got some good eggs from the chickens this morning if you want an omelet,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“You happen to be talking to the best omelet maker in Virginia,” he said confidently.</span></p><p> <span>“Bold claims there, Mr. Hotchner,” she said. He stood and held out his hand to her. Laughing, she took his hand and her laptop heading downstairs.</span></p><p> <span>If asked to recount how the morning went, Aaron wasn’t sure he could fully remember. It was some of the best fun he’d had in years. They made breakfast and he followed Norah around while she dealt with her animals. His favorite were the goats by far, mainly because one of the chickens bit his hand while he was walking by making Norah laugh. They sat in her lawn chairs talking while she threw a ball for Spoon to chase. It had been a while since he’d had an adult conversation that wasn’t about work or his son. They talked about their funny stories, college and early years in the workforce. He knew that a lot of her stories about her time in Europe were omitted, but she never shied away from them. Despite the heavy nature of his work, he told her about the cases that stuck around like the Replicator or the one where he and Rossi had gotten a woman out of a murder charge after being severely emotionally abused by her family. While he was more cautious about stories regarding his team, he still recounted the prank war between Morgan and Reid which made him laugh to this day or Reid’s obsession with magic.</span></p><p> <span>She had the funnier stories between the two of them, as was the nature of an ER doctor versus an FBI agent who caught serial killers. She told him about how she and Bethany met and became friends, which involved way too many bodily fluids for his liking. His favorite stories were about Henry and Harry, which were Norah’s favorite nurses. They were both hyper-competitive and almost always trying to one-up each other. Talking and getting to know Norah, without a major time constraint, or in a work environment was fun. They both had forgotten how much fun it was to get to know another person. Unfortunately, Norah still had to get to work for a few hours which meant around noon she was heading upstairs to get dressed for her day.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron had thrown on jeans and a pullover he saw Norah eyeing the last time he wore it. He and Spoon were waiting on the couch when she came downstairs. Instead of normal medicine scrubs, she had on a loose sweater and business pants with a pair of bright yellow heels. This is what the administrative part of her job required her to look like. She looked effortless and confident, but he really doubted she wore this outfit while treating patients.</span></p><p> <span>“You look nice,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re only saying that because this is the first time you’ve seen me in work clothes that aren’t covered in blood,” she told him. He chuckled.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you ready?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I have my bag and everything,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>Their drive back into town and to the hospital was a little somber. He didn’t want to drop her off and she didn’t want to leave. He was about to say something when she asked,</span></p><p> <span>“When does Jack get back?”</span></p><p> <span>“Day after tomorrow,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Want to go on a real date tonight? I only have to go in for a few hours and finish some emergency reports in response to yesterday, but I want to have a real date before our lives continue to be crazy.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah I would love that. What did you have in mind?”</span></p><p> <span>“Let’s get dinner, I know a great little pub a few minutes from the hospital,” she told him. “Let’s meet around 6?”</span></p><p> <span>“That sounds like a plan,” he told her.</span></p><p>
  
</p><p> <span>He wasn’t ashamed to say he arrived early. Half of his personality was punctuality. The pub she had chosen, was off of a busy street, the road was narrow and only let one car pass at a time. He had to circle the block a few times to find an actual place to park. The inside was not quite what he was expecting. Norah struck him as someone who would prefer simple, minimalistic establishments. This pub was nice, but it was dimly lit, and the floor was just a little too sticky. While he would never admit how early he arrived, it was early enough to let him watch the after-work crowd fill in the pub. A lot of medical professionals used this pub, which didn’t surprise him. The pub was within walking distance to the hospital district and a lot of medical workers had more normal hours than his girlfriend did. That word made him pause, they never really established where they were last night. Obviously, they weren’t quite friends anymore, but they hadn’t defined anything just yet.</span></p><p> <span>It was not hard for him to imagine long term with Norah. If anyone could understand his crazy work schedule it was her. Moreover, Jack really liked her, and Norah was great with kids. She was impactful enough that kids she had fostered still kept in contact with her. There was something comforting about knowing Norah had already gone through teenage years since Jack was slowly (but not slow enough) approaching his own terrible teens. He was trying not to think long term this early on in the relationship, but he wasn’t going to start something without a consideration of the future, more specifically, Jack.</span></p><p> <span>His phone buzzed beside him, a text from Norah told him she was on her way. He wasn’t sure if there would be any defining of relationships tonight, but he was certain that after everything yesterday and this morning, neither of them were in this for a casual time. Trying to distract himself from the nervous rollercoaster of his stomach, he was looking in depth at the menu, even though he had decided what to get within the first thirty seconds of looking. It was a novel feeling to be nervous for someone he already knew decently well. They had texted and talked for the past five months; sometimes it was about his cases or her day, but those conversations made him feel like he knew Norah exceptionally well. They had lightly broached some of the heavier aspects of their lives, such as her candor regarding her mom and his brief recount of what happened with Haley. A lot of times it felt like Norah was an open book, but as he looked back at it, she was better at making him think she had been sharing a lot while only sharing what she wanted. He respected that, it was a fine line to walk, knowing what to share and what needed to be held back. Despite that, he never got the impression she was humoring him or overcompensating for something. He noticed that Norah had walked in out of his eye. Aaron sat the menu down on the table and waved her over. Out of habit, he stood and gestured to the booth. She gave him a little chuckle and kissed his cheek.</span></p><p> <span>“Hi, how are you?” she asked, sliding into the booth across from him. He copied her and sat back down in his seat.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m good, finished up some reports from yesterday and sent them off to the powers that be,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“Basically the same thing I did,” she laughed. “Although my powers that be were FEMA, the State of Virginia and the illustrious FBI themselves.”</span></p><p> <span>“I had no idea hospitals reported so much information,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“Our information goes to a bunch of emergency preparedness people to help make sure we are prepared for the next big terrible event. It also goes to y’all for the final death toll,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Isn’t it early for a final death toll?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, but they want daily updates. But everyone who came in yesterday has either been admitted to the hospital or discharged. I am only responsible for ER numbers, thank goodness. We have thorough protocols in place for MCIs but every time there is another one it feels overwhelming. Hopefully, we’ve had our fill for the year.”</span></p><p> <span>“What is an MCI?” he asked unfamiliar with the terminology.</span></p><p> <span>“Mass casualty incident. I think it is a medical term more so than federal or state,” she told him. “Either way, we are still low on some materials, mainly suture kits, but the medical supplier will have some to us tomorrow morning and by the end of the week we’ll probably be as back to normal as we can be.”</span></p><p> <span>“We have a while longer,” Aaron said, shaking his head.</span></p><p> <span>“What else do y’all do?”</span></p><p> <span>“Terrorism was always lead, we just happened to be there to make the arrest, so at the moment the BAU is on standby until the case is closed. There will be a lot of interviews over the next month. Terrorism will be the main interrogators, but we’ll be around to assist, which means limited traveling. Although I may be sending out JJ and Reid to Colorado. Garcia was alerted to a case in the woods and it looks like the bodies could be in the double digits.”</span></p><p> <span>“Oh god. That’s horrible and gross,” she said, shuddering.</span></p><p> <span>“Gross?” he asked. She wasn’t incorrect, but that typically wasn’t people’s first descriptor when learning about a serial killer.</span></p><p> <span>“I had a pathology rotation in med school. I almost became a medical examiner until they took us to a body farm and let me tell you, that is the thing that haunts me at night, and I’ve been in war zones,” she said with so much severity he couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you laughing at me, Aaron?”</span></p><p> <span>“I am,” he chuckled. “I’ve never spoken to someone whose first thought was ‘gross’ because they thought of decomposing bodies before serial killers.”</span></p><p> <span>“Being a doctor kinda fucks you up,” she shrugged. “But yeah, I guess that was a weird reaction. How about this? Oh no! A terrible monster!”</span></p><p> <span>He laughed at her clearly faux horrified face. “You could never be an investigator.”</span></p><p> <span>“Because I don’t have your great poker face?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Obviously,” he replied. She grinned at him, but before she could speak their waiter came up and took their orders. Norah didn’t even look at the menu before telling him what she wanted.</span></p><p> <span>“When I first moved here, I came here all the time. I used to be regular,” she laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“What changed?”</span></p><p> <span>“I started working nights. Most of the people with families wanted the day shift and I didn’t have anyone close by, so I would take them for the most part. The weird stuff happens at night, so it is more fun,” she explained.</span></p><p> <span>“Where is your family then?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Mostly in Texas still. My younger sister is up in New York. She is a singer and does a lot of Broadway stuff on top of her own band that she tours with along with her husband,” she told him. “Whenever she is in Virginia I go to her shows and if she’s ever in a show I go see her up there.”</span></p><p> <span>“That sounds nice,” he smiled.</span></p><p> <span>“What about you?”</span></p><p> <span>“My younger brother, Sean, is in New York too. He works in restaurant management. He does well for himself, I think he’s at a bar right now. I’m not close with my parents, but they live in Manassas.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her about his less-than-ideal parents, but he didn’t want to spoil the night.</span></p><p> <span>“You only have one brother?” she asked, when he confirmed she said, “That must be nice. I have three sisters and a brother. On a good day I only want to kind of kill them.”</span></p><p> <span>He laughed, thankful she didn’t press about his family too much. “But none of them are in this state.”</span></p><p> <span>“That does not stop Gracie and Veronica from being a pain in my ass. Matt is so self-righteous about being a cop that it makes me crazy. I mean, I love them and would 100% die for them, but I would also kill them. Taylor’s an elementary school teacher, she’s the least annoying out of them all.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah I know what that’s like. Where is your brother a cop?”</span></p><p> <span>“Dallas. He helps my dad and uncle run the ranch on his off days. I think he’s a sergeant now. He’s in the drug unit and liaises a lot with DEA, FBI and the rest of the alphabet agencies.”</span></p><p> <span>“Do they know about your previous employment?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“My dad and youngest sister do. As much as Matthew is great at his job, he and my older sisters have big mouths and next thing you know the whole state would have learned I was CIA.”</span></p><p> <span>“Are you close?”</span></p><p> <span>“With my youngest sister and my dad, he’s actually coming up in a couple weeks for work. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen him in almost a year. My brother is four years older than me and my two older sisters are six and eight years respectively. Just a little too old to be close. Gracie, my younger sister, is a year and a half younger than me, we were really close growing up. What about you and Sean?”</span></p><p> <span>“I looked out for him a lot growing up. I’m a lot older than him too, but since it was only the two of us and our parents were…our parents, I looked out for him. That turned into some conflict as we got older, but I think we’ve found a good rhythm now. He’ll spend weekends with Jack and obviously Jack loves that.”</span></p><p> <span>“Does he take him up to New York or do they stay down here?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Both,” Aaron answered. “Jack likes New York better, but that only can happen during summers or breaks from school.”</span></p><p> <span>“How is Jack by the way?”</span></p><p> <span>“He’s doing good. Still asking when he can see your goats again,” Aaron laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“You guys are welcome at any time, trust me. A friend of a friend is selling a few alpacas and I was thinking of getting a couple, too.”</span></p><p> <span>“Alpacas? Why not traditional cattle?”</span></p><p> <span>“Cows and horses are a lot of work. And frankly, I’m just not a big fan of horses. They kind of freak me out.”</span></p><p> <span>“Didn’t you grow up with them?” Aaron asked, grinning at her.</span></p><p> <span>“I did. Which is why I know they terrify me. They are so big, and they can kill me. I don’t think a horse would mean to kill me, but it could step on me and just absolutely destroy me. I don’t have any desire to bring that into my life,” she declared passionately, making Aaron laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“That is a really strong opinion on horses,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“And you don’t have similar strong opinions?”</span></p><p> <span>“I get really picky about which pens I use for work,” he suggested.</span></p><p> <span>“Doesn’t count. Everyone is like that. Give me something else, Aaron.”</span></p><p> <span>“Everyone is not like that with pens. I have worked in a lot of places with a lot of people. Just because doctors are like that doesn’t mean everyone is, but I will find something else,” he told her. He thought for a moment then said, “I won’t watch movies with bad musical scores, or at least I won’t watch them without pointing it out.”</span></p><p> <span>“Music scores?” she asked amused.</span></p><p> <span>“They make or break movies,” he told her, shrugging. “Bad movies almost always have bad scores, but a decent movie will be considered bad if it has a bad music score. It’s psychology.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah laughed. “I don’t know if it’s psychology, but I don’t totally doubt you.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m very trustworthy. I am an FBI agent,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“That line doesn’t work on me, I was CIA. I’ve met too many FBI agents for that,” she told him, kicking him lightly under the table.</span></p><p> <span>Their waiter walked up to their table with their drinks and food, and quickly left them. Throughout the rest of their meal, they shared stories of their workplaces, their families and everything else in between. Norah shared abbreviated stories about her time in Eastern Europe, especially ones that focused on the food. He shared a lot of stories about Jack and antics their team got into. He found himself talking a lot about Dave and JJ.</span></p><p> <span>“They’re kind of your best friends, aren’t they?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I think they are,” he told her. “Some of the best people I could ask for.”</span></p><p> <span>She gave him a soft smile, “You deserve good people, Aaron.”</span></p><p> <span>He and Norah talked for a while longer, before she realized they were hogging a table on a busy night. She insisted on splitting the check and he agreed, making sure to leave their waiter a generous tip for leaving them along for the most part. When they were outside, she grabbed his hand and led him down the street. They hadn’t discussed going anywhere else, but he wasn’t going to complain in the least. They were halfway through a horrifying story about her first day as a medical intern, when she pulled him into an ice cream shop. He missed feeling her holding his hand when she pulled away to point at which ice cream flavor she wanted. For the rest of the night they talked about everything and nothing at all until they stood in front of her SUV in the hospital parking lot.</span></p><p> <span>“This isn’t casual for me,” he said leaning up against her car. She mirrored his position. “I’m not saying this has to get serious right away, but I’m not dating around.”</span></p><p> <span>“I can easily get on board with exclusivity. At some point soon we’ll have to talk about our schedules and Jack, but I think based on the past few days we deserve a breather,” she told him.</span></p><p> <span>“Can I kiss you goodnight?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah,” she grinned up at him.</span></p><p> <span>He leaned in and wrapped an arm around her waist. She was warm and inviting, and she smelled delightful. This kiss wasn’t the passionate make out that occurred the previous night a mere 50 yards away from them, but it was tingly and exciting all the same. Aaron didn’t think he’d ever get tired of kissing Norah, and he didn’t want to. She cupped his face with one hand while the other lightly toyed with the ends of his hair, making him shiver. When he pulled away, he smiled down at her.</span></p><p> <span>“Thanks for a great date,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Thanks for asking,” she replied.</span></p><p>
  
</p><p> <span>A few weeks later, things between Norah and Aaron were going really well. They chatted on the phone once a day, typically after her shift or when he had put Jack to bed. They would text occasionally, but the nature of their job meant that maintaining a conversation through a slower medium was more difficult. Norah had surprised Aaron with a lunch date twice, both times he knew he shouldn’t have been surprised but he still was. Norah’s dad had been informed about Aaron when he came to visit, but Aaron had been out of town so there hadn’t been any introduction. Even if he had been in town, Norah was positive she would not have introduced them so early in the relationship. Even though a mass casualty event brought them together, their honeymoon phase was still going strong. Norah knew she was annoying Bethany with how much she discussed it, so she made it a point not to bring it up during their 7am to 7pm shift. Instead they discussed Bethany’s toddler, the new MCI policies put in place after the shooting and bombing, and also Norah’s new dog Maggie.</span></p><p> <span>When Norah finally made it back to her house, she changed and made dinner. Briefly, she thought about Aaron. They were originally supposed to have dinner at Rossi’s house tonight, but a case had popped up suddenly. Norah was secretly glad, because trying to socialize after getting off of a twelve-hour shift was difficult and she wanted to make a good impression on Aaron’s friend. He hadn’t told her what the case was about it, but based on his tone it hadn’t sounded good. She had half a mind to text him, but it was like the universe heard her thoughts and soon as she came to this crashing realization, her phone rang, and his name popped up.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey Aaron,” she said, she doubted he could hear, because there was loud background noise on his end of the phone. “Where are you?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m in the plane’s bathroom,” he replied with a self-conscious chuckle. “A few months ago, you offered to be a sounding board.”</span></p><p> <span>“While you’re in the bathroom of the plane?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Um, no, that’s probably not a good idea.” he replied. “I wondered if I could take you up on that by the time we land Jack will be asleep; he’s at Jessica’s tonight.”</span></p><p> <span>“Of course, Aaron. You’re always welcome to come over.”</span></p><p> <span>He sent her a text he was on his way a couple hours later and within forty-minutes he was pulling up her driveway. She was in the back with Spoon throwing balls for her daily game of fetch, despite it being nearly 10pm at night, Spoon was thriving and enjoying their game in the cool night air. When she heard his car door open and shut, she yelled out, “I’m back here.”</span></p><p> <span>Out of the corner of her eye she watched him walk up the rest of the gravel driveway and through the small herb garden she haphazardly kept up with. Her porch was a good four feet off the ground, and she sat on the edge with her feet dangling off. He came up and sat next to her shrugging off his suit jacket and pulling at his tie. She offered him something to eat, but he declined. For the next few minutes they sat in silence while she threw the ball for Spoon. At some point he glanced to Norah’s opposite side and asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Is that another dog?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I accidentally adopted her last week,” she replied. “She hates me a lot, but gets along decently well with Spoon.”</span></p><p> <span>“What is her name?”</span></p><p> <span>“Maggie,” she said. “She’s an Australian Shepard dog. They really like herding animals and since I have animals to herd, I figured she would feel at home. Instead she lays on my porch all day and growls at me if I touch her.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron chuckled. At her indignant look he said, “It’s just the first living creature that isn’t in love after moments of meeting you.</span></p><p> <span>“I beg your pardon; people do not love me when they meet me. You just happen to keep crossing paths with people I’ve known for a while,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Really? You patients seem to like you,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“One of my patients bit me today,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“Gross.”</span></p><p> <span>“Mm-hmm,” she nodded. The next time Spoon came running back with her ball, she dropped it on Aaron’s lap. She handed him the plastic ball launcher she used to make sure the ball went far enough to appease her dog and he effortlessly threw the ball past her yard and into her field. Spoon was going to enjoy running after that.</span></p><p> <span>“It was children this time,” he said after a few more minutes of silence. Norah winced, but remained silent as he collected his thoughts. “They were hard when I didn’t have a kid, but especially now with Jack.”</span></p><p> <span>“Did he kill them or just…” she trailed off, not exactly sure she wanted to finish that thought.</span></p><p> <span>“Both,” he sighed.</span></p><p> <span>She didn’t turn to look at him, but placed her hand over his, “I’m sorry.”</span></p><p> <span>“What do you do when you suspect a child is being abused? Like at the hospital,” he asked. He gripped her hand and placed it on his lap.</span></p><p> <span>“We remove the parent or guardian from the area and ask the child some questions. Most of the time they lie to protect their parents. They don’t always realize what’s happening to them is wrong. Either way we contact CPS. The hospital has a specific social worker on sight to ask the parent questions, so they are brought into a meeting room on the second floor of the hospital while CPS comes for the child. After that we do what CPS tells us to. It can be anything from immediate removal or follow up at a later date. Any kind of sexual abuse suspicion is immediate removal, though,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“We were in a small town and the doctors there knew what was happening and did nothing. How do we live in a world where that is okay?” he nearly spit.</span></p><p> <span>“Did you report them?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah JJ called the medical licensing board and since it was children they’ll be prosecuted in a federal court. But this man was killing children he…he tortured, and they suspected if they didn’t outright know! It was this big open secret, and no one did a damn thing.” He threw Spoon’s ball and it soared over her tree line a few yards past her small field. “Sorry.”</span></p><p> <span>“About the ball or the yelling?” she joked. He didn’t reply. “Sorry, bad joke. Spoon is fine. She’s probably thrilled to make it past the goats. As for the yelling, you have every fucking right.”</span></p><p> <span>“Have you ever reported abuse?”</span></p><p> <span>“At least twice a month,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“What do the parents do?”</span></p><p> <span>“Oh they get very angry most of the time. I got a black eye from a dad who got pissed. I reported him slapping his kid in front of the nurse,” she scoffed. She felt his hand tense around hers. “Hey, the onsite security guard tackled him to the ground, and he was charged with assault. CPS removed the child too. Honestly, punching me was the best thing that happened to his kid.”</span></p><p> <span>“It feels never ending sometimes. Like what we do every day won’t ever end. The serial killers and child abductors and every terrible person we track down, it feels like we don’t make a dent,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>“I’ll bet the family members of the victims would disagree,” she said softly, rubbing her thumb soothingly against his hand.</span></p><p> <span>“Even after I ask invasive questions about their loved one?” he asked disdainfully.</span></p><p> <span>“You catch the killer most of the time. It counts for something,” she replied. “Do you trust me?”</span></p><p> <span>“What?” he asked, confused.</span></p><p> <span>“Do you trust me?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yes.”</span></p><p> <span>“Then trust that I wouldn’t lie to you about this. It matters. Your job matters. It’s okay that the voice inside your head says it’s insurmountable at times, so long as you don’t let that become the only voice you listen to.”</span></p><p> <span>“I just want to punch something,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Do what to cut up firewood?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Sure, why the hell not?”</span></p><p> <span>She grinned at him and jumped off her porch, pulling Aaron with her. He hadn’t let go yet so she didn’t plan to. Around the side of her house is where she kept the firewood. There wasn’t a huge stockpile since the wintery chill had been receding for a while, she turned the side light on and showed him where everything was. Aaron had never chopped firewood before, so Norah showed him how to hold and throw the axe without hurting himself. She handed him the biggest pair of gloves she had and tried not to stare as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.</span></p><p> <span>“Get it together,” she hissed at herself.</span></p><p> <span>“Is this good?” he asked, demonstrating his swing. He had no idea how good it was.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, that’s perfect, Aaron. Chop as much as you want, I need to go do a couple things inside. There’s water inside the fridge if you need any.”</span></p><p> <span>Quickly, but not so much so to raise suspicion, Norah walked inside her house and into her bedroom where she took a few deep breaths focusing on the fact that now was not the time to horny over her kinda-boyfriend. Once she had calmed down, she went back outside. If she focused hard enough, she could still hear Aaron chopping wood, stopping every couple of minutes to catch his breath. While outside, Norah grabbed the chicken feed and made sure they still had fresh water. There hadn’t been time yet to collect eggs, so she grabbed the couple that had been laid since the last time she checked and brought them inside to wash. A few she put in her fridge, but left the rest out for Aaron if he wanted them. He came in shortly thereafter, having ditched his button up shirt for the white undershirt he wore. Norah did her best not to stare.</span></p><p> <span>“Do you want to see my goats? One of them just had a baby and she is very cute,” Norah said. Aaron nodded so she led him outside and past the chickens that clucked angrily as they passed.</span></p><p> <span>“Which one escaped?” he asked her.</span></p><p> <span>She smiled remembering that phone call, “Sadie. She’s the all yellow one. I hate her so much, but she had the best eggs.”</span></p><p> <span>She led him down a well-worn path in her field close to the tree line where there was a pen of goats. Most of them were sleeping, but when they heard Norah walk up with the feed bag they began to bleat excitedly. She scooped some feed into a couple bins and replaced their water with a hose next to the fence while Aaron watched. With a well-practiced ease she grabbed the baby goat and dropped it into his arms.  The small goat was soft as his wiry coat hadn’t fully grown in yet.</span></p><p> <span>“Her name is Persephone. She just started eating grass. I have most of the field fenced in up to the trees, so I let them have the run of the place during the day. I don't need to mow the lawn very often because they’ll do it for me.”</span></p><p> <span>“How much isn’t trees?”</span></p><p> <span>“Half an acre or so? I have about six and a half miles of land. But part of that is the front yard but I don’t let them up there. The mailman didn’t like having to dodge them eating his bag, so I keep them back here now.”</span></p><p> <span>“Thank you, this is very nice,” he told her, letting the small goat down to his mother. “You have a lot of goats.”</span></p><p> <span>“Nearly twenty,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“And they all have names?”</span></p><p> <span>“Hypothetically. Doesn’t mean I remember all of them, though,” she laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“Is that offer for food still around?”</span></p><p> <span>“Absolutely, follow me Mr. FBI and I’ll show you how to make the best grilled cheese ever.”</span></p><p> <span>After making lunch they sat in her living room talking about her job. It seemed as though for now the topic of his job was off limits. Norah understood and could relate. She filled him in on all the hospital gossip. After she informed him of the fifth affair in the cardiology unit he asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Want to hear what Garcia let slip to me the other day?”</span></p><p> <span>“I absolutely do.”</span></p><p> <span>“She told me last week that one of the Unit Chiefs is filing for divorce because his wife slept with a trainee agent to get him back for sleeping with their daughter’s soccer coach.”</span></p><p> <span>“That sounds like a soap opera episode,” she laughed. They eased into an easy silence. Norah caught him staring up at the family pictures behind her, so it wasn’t a surprise when he asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Can I ask you a personal question?”</span></p><p> <span>She nodded, “Shoot.”</span></p><p> <span>“How did you get over your husband cheating on you?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Honestly? I learned that affairs aren’t really about the person who gets cheated on. The affair wasn’t an indictment of our marriage, although the divorce was. We went to a lot of counseling and I learned that while I wasn’t exactly available, he wasn’t communicating what he needed. I quit the CIA after that to be home more. When we divorced, I went back to the CIA sporadically, but tried to make a life out here and last year I completed my final operation.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m sorry that happened to you,” he told her. She looked up at him and he had that severe look on his face again. His eyebrows furrowed and the grim lines of his face seemed even deeper. </span></p><p> <span>“I’m not. I will always love Peter in one way or another. We started dating in college, went to the same med school where we got married at 24 then divorced eight years later. He was a huge part of my life and one of my biggest cheerleaders for so long. It’s not that I was never angry with him or hurt by his actions. But I learned that the affair wasn’t really about me, most affairs aren’t. They happen when you want to be someone else and he could do that with the other woman. I was gone for months at a time and he didn’t want to come with me, nor should he have to. At the end of the day, we weren’t right for each other despite our best attempt to be.”</span></p><p> <span>“Do you still talk to him?” Aaron asked. He vaguely remembered her saying something about him, but wasn’t sure what it was.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, we check in with each other. He’s married to another person now. She’s an artist and they live up in Canada. They are expecting their first child in June,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“How did you find out about the affair? If you don’t mind me asking.”</span></p><p> <span>“He came clean to me. I got sent to Syria for a couple months right after the sarin attack and I came back a very different person. It was a traumatizing place to be at that moment. I was the most open with him about my work as I had ever been, and he told me that he couldn’t lie to me anymore. I never asked how long the affair went on or who it was with, because frankly I am better off not knowing,” she explained.</span></p><p> <span>“Aren’t you ever curious?”</span></p><p> <span>“All the time, but he said it was with someone I didn’t know so I don’t exactly worry about running into her. I think if I knew it would rip me apart. And especially at that time I couldn’t handle that knowledge.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron settled back into the couch and sighed. He looked better than he did when he first arrived a little over an hour ago, but he still seemed on edge.</span></p><p> <span>“What happened during the case that brought all of this up?” she asked. “You don’t have to answer, but you have me curious.”</span></p><p> <span>He frowned and leaned forward again, “We were called in because over the past four months three children had been abducted from playgrounds and found dead two weeks later. They hadn’t been physically or sexually abused and each child’s parent had been in a divorce due to infidelity.”</span></p><p> <span>“Jesus that’s specific,” she muttered. </span></p><p> <span>“A child escaped, and we ended up finding him not long after that, but JJ and I interviewed him and learned that when his parents split because his dad cheated on his mom, his mom became resentful towards him and that’s when the beatings started. He thought he was rescuing them.”</span></p><p> <span>“It’s hard to get their faces out of your head,” Norah said.</span></p><p> <span>“Eventually they fade, but that’s only because they are replaced with newer ones.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah but you get justice for them.”</span></p><p> <span>He shrugged and said, “Jessica will take Jack to school tomorrow. Can I crash here tonight?”</span></p><p> <span>“Of course. You know where everything is.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah was a little nervous, this was the second time Aaron had crashed at her house. They hadn’t moved past making out and some PG-13 touching, as much as she desperately wanted to. Even so, tonight wouldn’t be a good night to cross that intimacy bridge. Aaron was in a rough place and frankly, talking about Peter a mere twenty minutes ago did not exactly put her in the mood. He showered in her bathroom quickly before towel drying his hair and crawling into bed next to her. She had been reading some science article on her reading tablet, but put it down when he laid down next to her. At some point, while they talked about nothing in low voices, Norah had wrapped her arms around Aaron while he laid his head on her chest. It wasn’t lascivious by any manner, but just someone who needed to be held for a moment. Norah wasn’t quite sure when she dozed off, but she woke up just long enough for Aaron to kiss her goodbye and head off to work. Thankfully she was off and managed to get another hour before needing to deal with any of her animals or hospital business.</span></p><p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Until she was knocking on his door, Norah realized she had never seen Aaron’s apartment. Most of the time they were at her house or out somewhere. They had been dating nearly three months at this point, and it was the most predictable and stable relationship Norah ever had. To be fair, the majority of her relationships happened in her late-teens and early twenties, but the end of her marriage was tumultuous at best which meant she considered this one a win. Barring work, Aaron called when he said he would call, and they had semi-regular date nights. Every so often, they would bring the other person lunch. Though in Norah's case, he typically brought her dinner when she had an overnight shift at the hospital. Three days prior, he texted her and asked if she wanted to have a movie night with him and Jack. It had been a couple weeks since she’d seen him, mainly in passing since Aaron didn’t want him to become too attached in case things weren’t going to work out. Apparently, he was no longer too concerned about this since he invited her over. She’d been at work since 6am, needing to get some administration paperwork out of the way before starting her rounds. Thankfully, the day had not only been slow, but she had gotten a negligible amount of bodily fluids on her scrubs.</span>
</p><p> <span>She’d had the foresight to bring a pair of jeans and sweater with her, so when she finally knocked on Aaron’s door, she didn’t look like a disgusting ER doctor, but a normal human woman who sprayed a bit of perfume on before she left her car. He opened the door and was still in his dress shirt and pants from his job. She had told him this on many occasions, but he always looked and smelled so nice when in his work clothes, especially with the sleeves rolled up. Aaron greeted her and dipped down to plant a light kiss on her lips. In return she squeezed his forearm and smiled up at him.</span></p><p> <span>“What a nice welcome,” she said. “You look delightful.”</span></p><p> <span>She watched his neck flush as he let her inside, “Thank you. Are you wearing perfume? Didn’t you come from work?”</span></p><p> <span>“Ah the beauty of having a spare bottle of perfume in one’s car,” she joked. “So what movie are we watching?”</span></p><p> <span>“It’s Jack’s turn to pick the movie. Could be anything from Pirates of Caribbean to any of the superhero movies. Who knows?” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Loving the mystery,” she laughed. “Where is—”</span></p><p> <span>Before she could finish her question, she heard Jack yell, “Dr. Michaelson I made cookies!”</span></p><p> <span>“He won’t call you Norah until you tell him,” Aaron said, shaking his head. “He called you Norah once and apparently his teacher said something about the importance of titles.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah chuckled and followed Aaron into their small kitchen where Jack was careful removing slightly burnt cookies from a cookie sheet to a plate. Norah smiled at the boy and said, “You know you can call me Norah now, since I’m not really your doctor.”</span></p><p> <span>“Are you sure? You went through like twenty years of school to become a doctor,” he replied skeptically.</span></p><p> <span>“My friends don’t call me Dr. Michaelson though,” she replied. “And I give you permission.”</span></p><p> <span>“Okay, Norah. Dad and I made these cookies for movie night. Sometimes we get them from the store or Aunt Jessica helps us bake, but we did this on our own.”</span></p><p> <span>“Wow those are some good-looking cookies. Can I have one?”</span></p><p> <span>“Sure, but they’re hot.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah grabbed one of the plates and despite a crispy edge, they were pretty good, “Ya know what Jack, I think these may be some of the best cookies I’ve had in a while. Although to be fair the last cookies were brought to the hospital and had sat in our breakroom for so long, they were hard as a rock.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ah well, as long as they are better than those,” Aaron replied. “Hey Jack do you want to go choose the movie and get it set up? I’ll make the popcorn and grab the candy.”</span></p><p> <span>“Sure!”</span></p><p> <span>Jack quickly ran into the living where they could hear him turning on the TV. Norah looked up and found Aaron standing closer to her than before so she jokingly said, “Popcorn, candy and cookies? That’s not exactly a well-rounded diet, Agent Hotchner.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ah, but it is key to bribing my thirteen-year-old to hang out with me sometimes,” he replied leaning into her. He’d backed her up against his counter and placed his hands on her waist. She wasn’t blocked in by any means, but a small thrill ran up her spine when he leaned down and gave her a more thorough kiss than the one at the door. She grinned into their kiss and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t listening for the sound of Jack approaching when Aaron changed his direction and began placing feather light kisses on her neck. She pulled back before letting it go too far and whispered,</span></p><p> <span>“Your son is in the other room.”</span></p><p> <span>“He is. And it is going to take him ten more minutes to pick a movie because he doesn’t know which one he wants to watch and has to watch the trailers for all of them,” he whispered in her ear, trying to continue his ministrations. She did her best to enjoy Aaron and being this close to him, but her apprehension must have not been as well hidden as she’d hoped because he pulled back and gave her one last searing kiss before reaching around her to grab the popcorn.</span></p><p> <span>“Sorry,” she replied feeling strangely ashamed of ruining the moment. “This is new territory for me, and I just don’t want to give Jack a bad impression.”</span></p><p> <span>“I understand and even though I can’t make out with you, I am grateful you care so much. Have you had dinner?”</span></p><p> <span>She hadn’t, but frankly the smell of the popcorn and cookies dissuaded her from wanting anything else, so she said, “No, but if you think you’re prying this popcorn out of my hands your very wrong.”</span></p><p> <span>“Guess I’ll pop another bag then,” he laughed.</span></p><p> <span>Norah could faintly hear Jack watching a trailer in the living room while they worked to prepare the snack. Or rather, while Aaron prepared the snacks and Norah watched him. They talked about their workdays and she told him about the endless paperwork with which he could commiserate. They spoke about his team, specifically Rossi who was once again dating a new woman.</span></p><p> <span>“Speaking of Rossi, he wants to invite the two of us over for dinner and wine in a couple weeks,” Aaron said. She picked up on an edge of nervousness that he was trying to disguise as indifference.</span></p><p> <span>“And why does that make you nervous?”</span></p><p> <span>“It doesn’t make me nervous,” he said unconvincingly. Norah raised an eyebrow. “Rossi is one of my closest friends. His opinion matters a lot to me, it’s just that he’s…opinionated.”</span></p><p> <span>“You’re afraid he’s not going to like me!” Norah realized laughing. “I’ll have you know I can charm the pants off of anyone…when I want to. I was a spy for fuck’s sake.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron laughed at Norah when she processed, she’d curse and threw a hand over her mouth, “Jack can’t hear you, but the thought was nice.”</span></p><p> <span>She swatted at him playfully and said, “I’ve had conversations with Rossi before, Aaron. Not only were we pleasant but he was charming. I think he was trying to wingman you.”</span></p><p> <span>“He was not…right?”</span></p><p> <span>Norah shrugged. She couldn’t say for certain, but she suspected those were his intentions. Aaron chuckled and handed her a beer. From the living room they heard Jack shout, “I chose the movie!”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron and Norah managed to carry out their drinks and snacks into the living room. Jack was sitting on the ground where he had pulled some pillows and blankets to make a comfortable pallet. There was a clear spot next to him, so Norah took a chance and asked, “Is this seat taken?”</span></p><p> <span>“Nope!”</span></p><p> <span>“Cool, so what are we watching, Mr. Hotchner?” she asked, shifting back against the base of the couch.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s fine, I guess I’ll just sit up here,” Aaron replied forlornly sprawling across the couch. “Actually never mind, I like having the couch to myself.”</span></p><p> <span>His head was positioned right behind Norah and she felt him lightly twirl a piece of her hair around. When she looked back at him, he winked. Frankly, she had forgotten that the gruff FBI agent she’d met so many months ago could be so…flirtatious. Jack laughed at his dad and began to tell Norah about the superhero movie they were watching. She listened dutifully turning on what Bethany called her “listening face” used exclusively for young adults and children. She nodded and hummed at appropriate places, but as soon as the credits stopped and the movie began Jack fell silent, only occasionally talking to give context and commentary. He’d clearly seen this movie before because anytime Norah looked over at him, he was mouthing along to the movie. She gave Aaron a bewildered look and he just shrugged with a fond smile on his face. After the movie Norah stuck around while Jack filled in the two adults on his day. He spoke about school, boy scouts, and soccer.</span></p><p> <span>“Luke tried to sit by me at lunch today,” he said. Norah would have been blind not to see the sudden change in Aaron’s demeanor. Thankfully, the boy was focused on eating a twizzler and not his father.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah and what happened?”</span></p><p> <span>“Ms. Salazar saw and made him move,” he replied. “Nothing happened, dad.”</span></p><p> <span>“He bothered you for most of the school year, bud. I’m going to be a little concerned. But thank you for telling me. I’m glad nothing happened. Now why don’t you go get ready for bed.”</span></p><p> <span>“But dad,” Jack drawled out. “It’s a Friday!”</span></p><p> <span>“And it’s nearly 11pm on a Friday. Way later than you normally stay up,” Aaron responded.</span></p><p> <span>Huffing, Jack stood and walked down the hallway into the bathroom. Norah waited patiently in Aaron’s living room while he put Jack to bed. Jack yelled goodnight to Norah and about fifteen minutes later, Aaron reemerged from his son’s bedroom and turned off the hallway light on his way back into the living room where he joined Norah on the couch. He wrapped an arm around her and tucked her into his side. Immediately Norah desperately wanted to know how Aaron thought the night went. She thought it went as well as could be expected. Because she wasn’t a new entity there weren't many uncomfortable moments. She and Jack had hung out at the hospital and he had even seen her animals. However, tonight was more personal and introduced her as someone significant, not just a friend of his dads.</span></p><p> <span>“So…” she trailed off.</span></p><p> <span>“Jack likes you a lot. He asked when he could hang out at your house again,” Aaron laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“Fuck yeah,” she replied happily.</span></p><p> <span>“Next time he sees you, he will ask you about it so be prepared.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m always prepared.”</span></p><p> <span>“Sounds very CIA of you,” he replied chuckling.</span></p><p> <span>“Ew gross, take that back. The CIA is a horrible place,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Didn’t you work there for ten years?”</span></p><p> <span>“Which is how I know it’s a horrible place doing necessary things. They paid for my med school, Aaron. I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth,” she replied lightly tracing patterns on his stomach.</span></p><p> <span>“Why’d you stick with it so long?”</span></p><p> <span>“Because I got to fuck with Nazis,” she replied. “I have a lot of trouble dealing with their actions in a lot of places in the world, but I got to still be a doctor and mainly take down white supremacy terror groups and illegal drugs that really hurt people.”</span></p><p> <span>“I used to be a prosecutor, but I got tired of not being able to do anymore about it when it got to my desk. It always felt like it was too late. So then I joined the FBI,” he sighed. “My dad was a lawyer too and it wasn’t footsteps I wanted to follow. He wasn’t a kind man.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah knew Aaron’s euphemisms well enough to guess what that meant. “So you became Mr. FBI Agent to stop bad guys before they could hurt too many people.”</span></p><p> <span>She turned her face up to look at him and he shrugged, “I guess being a cop was more appealing.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah unconsciously wrinkled her nose. “You aren’t a cop. I don’t trust cops.”</span></p><p> <span>“What?” he asked surprised. She shrugged,</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t trust them. I don’t trust the culture and I think a lot of the men and women who are cops do it so they can carry a gun and feel powerful,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“You have four friends in the FBI,” he replied trying to wrap his head around her negative opinion.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I do. All of whom I respect and love dearly. The FBI is nowhere near close to a white knight in law enforcement, but I don’t treat gunshot wounds from people caught in their crossfires. I deal with the cops who think the worst people on the planet are drug addicts and don’t deserve justice or kindness. I meet way too many cops to have any positive opinions for them,” she replied shrugging. Aaron was tense underneath her, so she sat up to look at him. He didn’t look pleased.</span></p><p> <span>“But I’m a cop. I consider myself a cop,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>She gave him a flat look, “Really? You called me the other day complaining about how the local cops were treating the sex workers on your case. I don’t like </span><em><span>those </span></em><span>cops.”</span></p><p> <span>“Norah, we are all the same. Regardless of what agency or jurisdiction we work for, we look out for each other.”</span></p><p> <span>“You mean you don’t hold each other accountable. Cops are 2 to 4 times more likely to be domestic abusers, not because being a cop turns people into bad people but because instead of fostering a culture of accountability and service, cops are taught that their word is law and people should be afraid of them. It attracts the worst kinds of people. And a lot of cops just protect their own for no other reason than some bullshit propaganda. No offense, I think it’s shitty when cops protect domestic abusers,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re telling me you think cops are bad people?” he asked, slowly becoming more upset.</span></p><p> <span>“Kinda. I’m saying a lot of them are and I say that from research and from anecdotal evidence. You can’t tell me that you haven’t seen the effects of this culture. I’m in charge of one of the biggest trauma ERs in the DMV area. Do you know how many police inflicted gunshots we deal with? A hell of a lot. I’m not saying every cop is bad. But I’m saying that a lot don’t seem to give a shit that so many cops are bad people and I think that’s one of the worst things you can do.”</span></p><p> <span>“You can be critical of an institution and not pass blame on the individuals,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Unless the individuals are working to actively change the culture, then I can and will be critical of the individuals,” she said in a forceful whisper, suddenly aware of how loud their voices had become.</span></p><p> <span>“Years ago when Garcia was shot, IA wanted to fire her because they thought she was into something dangerous and illegal. Are you trying to say that I shouldn’t have protected her from that?” he challenged, lowering his voice as well.</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t know maybe,” she said. “I don’t know what happened or what the evidence was. But if there was genuine evidence that she had done something wrong I would expect you to cooperate with those investigating. We’ve militarized the police and we don’t hold them accountable, Aaron. Surely you can understand why I’m not sucking the collective dick of patriotic service and law enforcement.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron reeled back at her forceful statement. “I need to walk away before I say something I regret.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah watched as he stalked into his kitchen. She turned around with a huff. How could he not understand where she was coming from? It was exhausting telling parents that their child was dead because of negligence from law enforcement. It was exhausting telling spouses, siblings, loved ones that the victim had some permanent injury they would be dealing with for the rest of their lives. But the longer she sat on Aaron’s couch with her arms crossed petulantly across her chest, she could understand why he was upset with her. She had said some really harsh things to him and while she held her opinion and had no intention of changing it, she could also have handled it with more tact. She groaned in her hands and stood up to go talk to him. His back was turned to her when she stepped into the kitchen.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m sorry for being so snappish and rude. I have my opinions, sure, but I wasn’t understanding of where you were coming from and I was a total dick about it,” she said leaning up against the door jam.</span></p><p> <span>“It felt like you were blaming me for the sins of people I don’t even know,” he replied. He slowly turned around and leaned against the kitchen across from her. “You’re my girlfriend and I was hoping for more support.”</span></p><p> <span>“I know, and I’m sorry. That topic is very emotionally charged for me because of my job and I took it out on you, which wasn’t fair to you at all.”</span></p><p> <span>“And I get it. When we have cases where sex workers are the victims. Sometimes it feels like getting local law enforcement on board is an uphill battle. But I have to believe that there are good people working and people that want to do good,” he said. Norah let out a breath. Frankly, she didn’t agree wholly, but she knew that this wasn’t a battle either of them was going to win.</span></p><p> <span>“Aaron, you’re a good person. You don’t put up with bullshit and you actively work towards holding people accountable. You believe there are good people in law enforcement because you are one. Even me and my negative opinions can see that,” she replied. She edged closer to him. “Will you forgive me for being a dick?”         </span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I can do that,” he replied giving her a genuine smile.</span></p><p> <span>“Will you make out with me on your couch before I go home?”</span></p><p> <span>He laughed and dragged her back into the living room curling up with her again. Norah wasn’t sure how long they were entangled on the couch together, but it was long enough that Norah was beginning to get sleepy. She helped Aaron quickly clean up movie night and then he walked her out to her car. She kissed him goodnight and said,</span></p><p> <span>“I think that was our first really big fight,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Fought out and made up for within twenty minutes. Not a bad first fight,” he replied judiciously.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey. I want you to know I care about you a lot and I promise I won’t be so obstinate and dick-headish in the future,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I care about you too.”</span></p><p> <span>She kissed him one last time before getting back in her car and driving home. It’s not like she said “I love you” but it seemed just as impactful in some way. He returned to his apartment in a little bit of a daze. And despite their earlier fight, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.</span></p><p> <span>After that night, Norah found herself invited over to the Hotchner’s more often for movie nights during the rest of the summer. The three of them would watch a movie and eat unhealthy snacks while Jack filled them in about his life. She learned a lot about him from these movie nights. His favorite superhero was Spider-Man, but he held a lot of love for Captain America too. His best friend’s name was Finn, and Finn had two older sisters who were gross. Finn and Jack were also in the same boy scout troop together and they were really excited for the annual fall break camping trip in October even though it was a little less than three months away. She also learned that Luke was a mean boy who made it his mission to pick on anyone and everyone who moved. Apparently, this wasn’t the first year that he and Jack had crossed paths, but it was the most eventful. Despite Luke, Jack seemed to really enjoy his science classes and would frequently tell Norah that he planned to be a doctor.</span></p><p> <span>The summer months were fun, she got to see Aaron a lot and she also got to hang out with Jack. He was aging past the phase of thinking his dad hung the moon, but it was fun to watch them enjoy each other so much. More than once the pair came out to her land and hung out with her animals. Even though Aaron had abstained, she and Jack walked some of the trails on her land with her dogs. Jack loved exploring the woods behind her house and every time he came over asked if he could go out there and play. Typically Aaron allowed him as long as he brought one of her dogs. Much to Norah’s chagrin, Maggie loved Jack. He was the only person she would allow to rub her belly. Occasionally she would let Aaron or Norah scratch under her chin, but Jack was allowed to do whatever he wanted to the dog. It was something that bothered Norah endlessly.</span></p><p> <span>Two weeks before Jack’s school started, Norah was at the hospital charting when her cellphone rang. Typically she wouldn’t answer her phone while at work, but when Aaron’s picture popped up, she decided to answer it. He’d been out of the state for two weeks and frankly, she missed him. Jessica and Jack had invited her over for dinner which was nice. She enjoyed getting to know Jessica even if she sometimes felt awkward; thankfully, Jessica was endlessly gracious and managed to crack jokes and relate to Norah all at once. Interacting with Jack’s aunt helped explain how well-adjusted Jack was after everything that happened when he was younger. Even though Norah had gotten her “Jack fix” as she’d dubbed it, she was desperately missing her boyfriend.</span></p><p> <span>“Hello?” she answered walking into the semi deserted hospital hallway.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey, we are on our way back from Wisconsin,” he said. She could tell he was on the plane already.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s great, but you could’ve texted me that,” she replied chuckling.</span></p><p> <span>“I also have a request and favor. Both actually,” he said sheepishly.</span></p><p> <span>“Okay, what is it?”</span></p><p> <span>“You know Jack’s friend Finn? They were planning on going camping tonight, but the campsite we normally use is closed because someone spotted a bear. I was wondering if they could use your property. I know you said there were some good camping spots a mile or two out from your house,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh sure, I don’t care. Yeah the people who lived there before I did, built a deer blind or something, but the only thing I’ve ever seen in the woods is a fox or two,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“I think I might sound like a bad parent if I ask this, but is it safe enough for me not to join them? I’m exhausted and I really don’t want to sleep in the woods.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah laughed. “There is cell service out there and they can take Spoon and Maggie too. Both of them will know if something is amiss.”</span></p><p> <span>“Thank god. Let me run this by Finn’s parents and I’ll text you if it ends up happening,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“All right. Safe flight, Aaron.”</span></p><p> <span>“Bye, Norah.”</span></p><p> <span>Half an hour later Aaron texted her that he would be bringing Finn and Jack over. She promised that she would walk them out to the campsite and make sure the trail was clear enough to follow. She’d spent a lot of hours exploring the woods with Spoon and Maggie over the summer. Frankly, Jack had a pretty good sense of direction and had probably spent a good chunk of time out there too, so she wasn’t too worried for them. By the time Norah got home, she had nearly forgotten that there were going to be campers coming over. Thankfully, she had the foresight to wear athletic shorts and an oversized t-shirt, not just the t-shirt like she normally did. Norah was in her kitchen cooking when Aaron knocked on her back door and let himself in, two thirteen-year-old boys followed.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey Norah!” Jack said exuberantly. God she envied his energy.</span></p><p> <span>“Hey Jack. And you must be Finn, right?” she asked, holding out her hand. He seemed a little nervous, but shook her hand anyways.         </span></p><p> <span>“Was dad being serious when he said that we were taking Spoon and Maggie too?”</span></p><p> <span>“Absolutely. Spoon loves camping and Maggie loves you, so I figured it would be fun to let the dogs have a night off too.”</span></p><p> <span>“Can we go right now?” Jack asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Sure, let me turn off the oven and I’ll walk with you guys to the campsite.”</span></p><p> <span>The campsite was only ten minutes down the trail that she and Spoon walked whenever Norah had the time to thoroughly exhaust her dog. Aaron followed but let Jack and Finn do the talking. They filled her in on their upcoming boy scout trip, moving up to the eighth grade and all the cool classes they were going to take. Jack was excited about his health science elective and Finn was excited about the journalism elective. Norah would ask them occasional questions, but after Finn got over his initial shyness, the pair talked her ear off. Less than ten minutes later they arrived at the campsite and Aarron was pleased to discover it was a pretty straight shot to and from her house.</span></p><p> <span>“All right, you boys call us if you need anything,” Aaron said.</span></p><p> <span>“We will, dad! See you tomorrow!”</span></p><p> <span>Jack gave his dad a hug and to her surprise, gave Norah one too.</span></p><p> <span>“Thanks Norah, this is so cool.”</span></p><p> <span>“No problem. Enjoy yourselves.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron and Norah walked off and could hear as they game planned who was going to get firewood and who was going to set up the tent. The dogs had already taken up their places with the boys which put Aaron’s mind at ease. Even if Maggie was a grumpy dog, she loved Jack and he knew that she’d alert them if anything was wrong. Norah assured him the woods were safe, and he didn’t doubt her per se, but his years of tracking down terrible people who did terrible things made him very cautious. He and Norah ate a small dinner together then curled up on the couch. Norah took her place in the corner of her sectional and Aaron collapsed on top of her, exhausted after the two weeks of nonstop work. With his head pillowed in her lap, she turned on the TV and began combing her fingers through his hair. Her nails raking across his scalp was one of the most relaxing things he’s ever experienced. Her other hand was resting lightly on his chest, so he grabbed it and held it with his other hand.</span></p><p> <span>“We’ve been dating for a while, now right?” she asked lightly. “Nearly four and half months.”</span></p><p> <span>“Almost to the day,” he replied. “Why?”</span></p><p> <span>“We haven’t had sex yet,” she said. “Are you hesitant at all?”</span></p><p> <span>He absolutely was, but not for the reasons she was probably thinking, “Not about us or our relationship. I guess I was waiting for the right time. But every time we’re alone one of us is bone tired or we don’t have the time. Trust me when I say it is something I’ve thought about.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah?” she asked. He could hear the smile on her face and brought her hand up to kiss it.</span></p><p> <span>“There may have been a dream or two,” he replied cryptically, making Norah laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh please share with the class,” she requested. “Role playing? Blindfolds? What exactly gets you going?”</span></p><p> <span>“In real life or dreams?”</span></p><p> <span>“Dreams first, real life if you feel like it,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“The dreams were the same. I get back from a long case, there’s a whole moment where you run at me and I effortlessly catch you—that’s how I know it’s a dream—and basically we christen every room in your house.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah laughed. “So there’s no Footless moment in my future?”</span></p><p> <span>“Not unless you want to treat me for a hernia,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“And in real life?”</span></p><p> <span>“You mainly. Although I wouldn’t be opposed to trying a blindfold.”</span></p><p> <span>“On me or you?”</span></p><p> <span>“Your choice,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“That is a great answer,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“What about you? What does it for you?”</span></p><p> <span>“Remember when you kissed me at the hospital?” she asked blandly.</span></p><p> <span>“Sure, the only bright spot on a terrible day,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Smooth. I gotta say, having a tough FBI agent push me up against the wall did a lot for me. Hell, any manhandling does it for me. I kinda like the fight.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron cursed how utterly exhausted he was tonight. Any other night, he’d have pushed her down on the couch and showed her exactly what he dreamt about, but the idea of moving right now seemed insurmountable.</span></p><p> <span>“But we’re both bone tired and there are two thirteen-year-olds that have a 50-50 chance of walking back here before the night is done which means we should hold off,” sighed Norah.</span></p><p> <span>“Guess dreams are going to have to do,” he replied, making her laugh. A few minutes later, after leaving her back door unlocked just in case, the pair walked up to her room and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.</span></p><p> <span>The next morning, Norah and Aaron were cooking breakfast when the boys walked back up to the house. They left their camping equipment on her deck before walking inside. They began detailing exactly how their night went and that an owl perched right above them and hooted at them. Norah grinned as she gave each boy a plate while sipping on her own cup of coffee. Unsurprisingly, they wanted to go back into the woods to explore which Aaron was fine with, but they had strict instruction to be back so Aaron could drop Finn off at noon. Norah quickly dealt with her animal’s needs, feeding her dogs, goats and chickens. She collected eggs and inspected pens to make sure that everyone was safe and happy. Finally she let the goats out to roam before making her way back up to her garden to water her plants. Aaron watched her from his place on the porch. He was catching up on some paperwork and being outside with her in the cool morning breeze was the best way he could spend it.</span></p><p> <span>“Quick question,” Norah said sitting down next to him on a lawn chair.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah?”</span></p><p> <span>“Maggie is going to be in DC for a job interview this week. We’re going to meet up for dinner a couple of times and I wanted to know how you felt about meeting her?”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron thought for a moment, “Yeah I’d love to. What day? Because Rossi wanted the team to come over for a team bonding night. He also wants you to come to that as well.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ah so a busy week for us then?” she laughed. “Maggie will be in town on Monday and I figured we’d have dinner that night.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, we’ll have this next week off because we had two cases back to back,” he said. “Rossi’s thing is on Thursday.”</span></p><p> <span>“What time?”</span></p><p> <span>“Probably 7 or 8, why?”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t get off until 8pm that night,” she sighed. “Could I be late?”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t think he’d mind, and I sure won’t.”</span></p><p> <span>“Okay, then. Sounds like plans.”</span></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: There is ~kinda~ a sex scene in this chapter. I am nowhere near confident in my ability to write smut so it isn't very long and A LOT is implied, lol.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Aaron was absolutely nervous about Monday. Despite her offer, Aaron determined to leave Jack at Finn’s house instead of taking him with the couple to meet Norah’s foster daughter. He remembered her telling him that Maggie was a clinical therapist. She specialized in foster care and adoption, which was unsurprising based on her history. What made him nervous was knowing that Maggie was a large part of Norah’s life and he knew that if he didn’t make a good impression it would seriously hinder his relationship. They were meeting at a casual restaurant in Alexandria, since Aaron was coming straight from work, he knew that he would most likely be overdressed so he ditched the tie and suit jacket. Norah had arrived ten minutes ago, so when he finally found a parking spot, he quickly left his car and made his way to the restaurant. It wasn’t hard to find Norah who was watching the door. She waved and he quickly came over.</span>
</p><p> <span>“Maggie’s running late. You look nervous,” she remarked.</span></p><p> <span>“That is because I am nervous,” he responded.</span></p><p> <span>“There’s no need. You can be a real person when you want to be,” Norah replied cheekily.</span></p><p> <span>“When I want to be?” he questioned.</span></p><p> <span>“You can be robotic sometimes,” she shrugged.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron was silent for a moment and then said, “Isn’t your new dog named Maggie?”</span></p><p> <span>Norah blew out a harsh breath and rubbed her temples, “She won’t answer to anything else because she hates me. I have to tell the human Maggie that I now have a stupid fucking dog named Maggie.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron chuckled and despite the humor still felt nervous.</span></p><p> <span>“You’ll be fine, I promise,” Norah replied.</span></p><p> <span>He knew she was right, but that didn’t mean he felt a little exposed realizing how well she knew him. Norah and Aaron chatted about their day until Norah’s face lit up and she waved to the person walking in. Maggie was tall, nearly as tall as he was. She was very young looking, but carried herself confidently. Her tightly coiled hair was styled in an afro with a bright scarf tying it back. Maggie had a bright smile. Norah stood and gave the young woman a tight hug.</span></p><p> <span>“You took out the braids!” Norah exclaimed. “It looks lovely.”</span></p><p> <span>“Thanks, Norah. I wore the scarf you got me for Christmas. The orange does wonders for the drab office clothes I have to wear sometimes,” she sighed.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron stood and said, “Hi, I’m Aaron.”</span></p><p> <span>“It’s so good to meet you, Aaron. I’m Maggie. Norah has told me so much about you!”</span></p><p> <span>“None of it good,” Norah joked. Maggie sat next to Norah, and rested her chin on her hand.</span></p><p> <span>“So is hunting serial killers as glamorous as Hollywood wants us to believe?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“No, it has a lot of stale coffee and way more disrespect for sex workers,” he replied before realizing what he said. Thankfully, Maggie threw her head back laughing.</span></p><p> <span>“Fair enough. What’s good here?”</span></p><p> <span>They chatted about shallow topics while waiting for their waiter to take their order. Aaron told her about his son, the team, and his brief stint as a soccer coach. Maggie told them about her job interview at a foster care nonprofit and her very serious boyfriend, Nick. He really wanted to get married, but she thought they were too young. He learned a lot about Maggie during this interaction: she was exceptionally bright, he wouldn’t doubt if she was one of the smartest people in every room she walked into. She was also welcoming and funny. Despite his earlier nerves, he felt like they were interacting well. The FBI question was a test and he thought he passed it. He also noticed she never once asked about his previous relationships or Jack’s mom, which made him think that Norah prepped her ahead of time.</span></p><p> <span>“How are you liking DC so far, Maggie?” Aaron asked once their food arrived.</span></p><p> <span>“It’s disgustingly humid. Even though Boston was humid, it wasn’t this hot,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Heat stroke is a big thing in the summer,” Norah commented.  “Wasn’t the case when I worked up in Boston.”</span></p><p> <span>“The heat does awful things to my hair and general desire to go places,” sighed Maggie.</span></p><p> <span>“Thankfully it doesn’t last too long. The spring and fall are nice enough that it kinda makes up for how awful the rest of the year is. Jack’s boy scout troop does this fall camping trip right after temperature drops and every time. I’ve gone; it’s a lot of fun.”</span></p><p> <span>“Do you go camping a lot?”</span></p><p> <span>“Jack loves it. I…tolerate it. I was injured a few years ago and it makes it hard to lay on the ground for too long,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t trust adults who like camping too much. There are bears in the woods and I can’t get behind willingly going somewhere with bears,” Maggie shuddered.</span></p><p> <span>“Mosquitos get me. When I was in Europe, they never bothered me, but the ones out here do.”</span></p><p> <span>“Mom put the fear of god in my soul when she told me about the woods,” Maggie said. To Aaron she elaborated, “When I moved back in with her our house backed up to some woods and I swear to god that woman made sure I was afraid of anything that moved back there. To this day I won’t get close to them.”</span></p><p> <span>The rest of dinner went like that. The three of them shared stories, laughed, and got to know each other. He learned that while Maggie really liked the job in DC she would be moving on soon. Even though she wasn’t ready to fully commit to Nick, Aaron could tell that if he ever asked her to get married she would say yes. Later in the night, Maggie shared a few embarrassing stories about Norah, like the time Norah showed up to her soccer game and nearly got into a fistfight with a parent who was yelling mean things at Maggie while she filled in for the goalie. Norah rolled her eyes fondly and said something about how people don’t know where to draw a line in sports. Before he knew it, the time was well past 10pm and Norah had paid for the check before he could even think to pull out his wallet. Maggie watched and said,</span></p><p> <span>“She does that all the time. Manages to pay for shit without you even knowing. It’s her superpower.”</span></p><p> <span>“Good to know it isn’t just me,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>They bid their goodbyes to Maggie and began walking. They were definitely heading in the opposite direction of his car, but he hadn’t wanted to say goodbye to Norah just yet. As they were leaving the restaurant she’d wrapped an arm around his middle so he pulled her close. Very rarely did Norah ever wear perfume. Being an ER doctor essentially disallowed it, but tonight he could smell her and she smelled divine. Personally when people describe scents, he thought it was all bullshit (like what the fuck does “amber, black currant and ginger” smell like? At least if they said vanilla or something, that would have made sense), so he definitely couldn’t tell what she was wearing. All he knew was that it was nice, and he was excruciatingly aware that they’d been dating almost five months without moving past second base. The timing for them never seemed to be right. Either she was exhausted from work, he was exhausted from work, Jack was around, or he’d been called to some random US city to track down a serial killer.</span></p><p> <span>“Are you working tomorrow?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Not until noon. Why?” she asked looking up at him.</span></p><p> <span>Honestly, he’d deny it until the day he died, because he was so desperately out of character for him, but Aaron Hotchner—king of self-restraint and delayed gratification—pulled Norah into the next poorly lit alley they passed and made out with her against the wall like some horny fifteen year. An unspoken rule of his was: If Rossi would do it, don’t do it. He’d thrown that rule out the window the moment Norah wore that sheer shirt all those months ago. Now as they stood hidden from the streetlight and ignored by passersby, he began to remember why he instated that rule in the first place. Except, she was so warm and soft against him; every time he tried to pull away, he couldn’t manage it. Then she adjusted her ministrations to his neck, and he couldn’t help but say,</span></p><p> <span>“Do I get to join the “just been bitten” club?”</span></p><p> <span>Norah paused, lips still on his neck, and began to giggle. She giggled so hard that she had to rest her on his chest. “Did you just make a joke?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m funny. I don’t know why people don’t think I’m funny,” he intoned which made her laugh harder.</span></p><p> <span>“God, we just made out in the shadows like fucking teenagers,” she said pulling back, still grinning.</span></p><p> <span>“I had a grand plan to seduce you one day and there were going to be candles and romantic music, but then I could just picture you annoyed because the candles were such a fire hazard,” he said tugging her closer.</span></p><p> <span>“Do you know how many people get burned from shit like that?” she asked and then at the look on his face, “You do, because I’ve complained about it before.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron smiled fondly down at her and gave her a soft kiss before asking, “I have work tomorrow, but Jack is at Finn’s for one last fun night before school starts. Do you want to come home with me? I promise no candles or anything that could end us back in the ER.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah grinned and said, “I’ve never been more upset we drove in different cars, because I so desperately want to distract you while you drive.”</span></p><p> <span>“For an ER doctor that’s a really irresponsible idea,” he said as she pulled him out of the alleyway.</span></p><p> <span>“You have no idea,” she grinned.</span></p><p> <span>Once he’d walked her back to her car, he quickly made his way back to his own in an effort to make it back to his apartment and straighten his room up before she arrived. It wasn’t that his living space was dirty; no, he was far too anal-retentive for that. But he hadn’t unpacked from the last time he’d been out of town and he was pretty certain Jack’s Lego Death Star was still sitting partially assembled on the dining room table. Halfway home he was struck with the realization he had no memory of the last time he’d cleaned his bathroom. He definitely sped home and managed to wipe down all relevant bathroom surfaces and shove his half-unpacked suitcase in his closet before Norah knocked on the door.</span></p><p> <span>“Have you picked up a new hobby?” she asked pointing behind him at the Lego Death Star on his table.</span></p><p> <span>“Sean got it for him a few weeks ago. Jack loves it,” he replied, shutting the door behind her and locking it. Norah didn’t say anything about how he set the alarm and then double checked the hallway before bringing her into the rest of the apartment.</span></p><p> <span>For a split second, he wasn’t sure what to do now that it was imminent. That is until Norah asked, “So I’m guessing you won’t do a strip tease for me?”</span></p><p> <span>He choked before realizing that she was kidding. “I don’t have the hips for it.”</span></p><p> <span>“Mmm, two jokes in one night. What is a lady to do with such a funny guy?” she asked leaning up to kiss him.</span></p><p> <span>Normally when they kissed Norah wrapped herself around Aaron, but tonight she was busy untucking his shirt. He was grateful he’d had the foresight to ditch his tie before the evening started; it sped up this portion of the night. Before she could pull it all the way off of him, he pulled back and steered them into his bedroom. Mentally he knew that he would be awake early enough to clean up, and they would both be gone before Jack got home. Nevertheless, he still didn’t like the idea of his son seeing remnants of his night in the living room. Once his bedroom door was shut, all bets were off. At the restaurant he hadn’t noticed what Norah was wearing. She’d worn a black dress that was light and airy and made it so easy to remove, but Norah beat him to the punch by easily unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders. She made quick work of his belt and pants too. He grabbed her hands when she went to push his pants off his hips.</span></p><p> <span>“Slow down,” he breathed. “I want to make it last.”</span></p><p> <span>“It took us five months to get here. The idea that one of us could get called into work before we even got started is an actual nightmare I had,” she whined. He blinked at her before bursting into laughter. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m serious!”</span></p><p> <span>“I know. I know,” he said trying to calm down. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. “Just…let me savor this.”</span></p><p> <span>To his immense surprise (and satisfaction), Norah flushed and nodded. He let her push down his pants which he stepped out of, but then he backed up against the bed and sat down pulling her on top so she was straddling him. Rubbing his hands up and down her back while they kissed served two purposes: feeling for the dress fasteners and reassurance. Norah had a lot of confidence; she was bold and unafraid. But he had the distinct feeling that people paying close attention to her made her very uncomfortable. There was a zipper that he pulled down to begin taking off her dress. She began to pull at it, but he stopped her again, never breaking their kiss.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re taking too long,” she muttered between kisses.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m taking my time,” he replied kissing down her neck, caressing her back. Just to the side of her right shoulder blade was a place she shivered every time he touched; he stored that away for later.</span></p><p> <span>Once she was sufficiently worked up, Aaron bunched up her dress around her hips and began to pull it off of her. Impatiently, she ripped the dress off and began kissing him once more. He hadn’t been able to see her at all once she’d done that. With a move Aaron was sure he could never replicate again, he flipped them over so he was on top of Norah now. Her bra, a dark purple color, and seeing her on his bed, flushed down to her chest made him desperately impatient. Regardless, he began kissing down her neck and her chest, taking his time. Mapping out places she liked, what she wasn’t responsive to. He made no move to pull off her bra, but continued down and kissed down her body, past the swell of her stomach and then her thighs. He spent more than enough time between her legs, kissing and lightly nipping. Norah was making the most exceptional whining noises as he did so.</span></p><p> <span>“I swear to god, Aaron,” she managed breathing heavily, “If you don’t do something. I’m going to do it myself.”</span></p><p> <span>“It’s not a threat if I would enjoy it,” he murmured. She sighed, dramatically and pulled him back up to her. He was still wearing his undershirt, which Norah promptly ripped off of him. He was enjoying their back and forth: Norah desperately trying to speed things up while he forced her to slow down. “God you’re beautiful.”</span></p><p> <span>She didn’t respond, but grabbed his face and kissed him thoroughly. He pulled back and asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Are you still good?”</span></p><p> <span>She grinned, “Never better. But I want to be on top now.”</span></p><p> <span>He laughed and stood. Following his lead, Norah stood then pulled him close. Before he could get his bearings, she pushed him back on the bed and now it was his turn to watch and Norah determined what she was going to do. She straddled his thighs, careful not to touch him too much. He imagined she was going to mimic what he’d done to her, but then she saw the silvery scars from Foyet. Her thumb brushed over one and she asked,</span></p><p> <span>“Dick head serial killer?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah,” he replied thickly. She nodded and placed a small kiss over them.</span></p><p> <span>The rest of the night was a blur of touching and kissing and exploring each other. They’d been held back for so long, it felt explosive. By the time they finished, the first round and then the second, they were well sated and curled against each other on his bed. Her skin was soft as he lightly caressed her side, and he enjoyed the feeling of her hair splayed over him while she rested on his chest. They didn’t speak much until she asked,</span></p><p> <span>“How big is your shower?”</span></p><p> <span>“Not big enough to do anything more than shower, unfortunately.”</span></p><p> <span>“Could we both fit?”</span></p><p> <span>“I think we could manage,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>While Norah went to the bathroom (“Women have to pee after sex, so we don’t get a UTI. I don’t want a fucking UTI.”) He pulled out a t-shirt for her and folded up the clothes they’d scattered across his room. When the shower started and the bathroom door opened, he found Norah already under the spray of water. It was not an innocent shower, but there was no shower sex. Norah was unsurprisingly against the dangers of shower sex, since people apparently ended up in the ER with concussion from shower sex falls. Holding her close under the spray of the hot water, he realized he was relaxed for the first time in a while. She noticed his smile,</span></p><p> <span>“What?”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m just happy,” he replied, kissing her.</span></p><p> <span>“Me too. You make me happy, Aaron,” she replied with the most candor he’d seen from her.</span></p><p> <span>Once they finished their shower and dried off, they slid into his bed. His heart felt like it would burst. This was the first time Norah had stayed over at his apartment and he was feeling unusually nervous about it. She easily slotted herself into his arms and he hummed contently. They were silent for a moment, taking each other in before asking Aaron how he felt about Jack starting eighth grade. He spoke about how Jack was excited and looking forward to another year of soccer. He quietly mentioned that he’d been having a hard time due to teachers and new friends asking about his parents.</span></p><p> <span>“I had the same problem in high school. My oldest sister, Taylor, one time told me to look them dead in the eye and make them feel as uncomfortable as they made me. So whenever people asked about her, I would look them in the eye and say, ‘she abandoned me’, and hold eye contact until they changed the subject,” she told him. “It worked.”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t think I want my son to do that,” he replied, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at the image of high school Norah staring down people who tried to make her feel bad.</span></p><p> <span>Norah shrugged, “Just a suggestion.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron kissed the top of her head and the tattoos on her arm caught his attention, so he asked, “Do you think you’ll get anymore new tattoos?”</span></p><p> <span>“Probably, haven’t been struck with any inspiration for a while. My last one was a couple years ago,” she moved the sleeve of his t-shirt to show a pair of thinly outlined hands holding a leaf. “It means absolutely nothing. I just like how it looks.”</span></p><p> <span>“How many do you have now?”</span></p><p> <span>Norah thought about it and said, “Fifteen, I think. Mainly small ones. I have five big pieces: two big florals one on my shoulder and the other on my left thigh, the constellations on my chest, the tree on my right thigh and the other tree on my back. I have four roman numeral dates on the inside of my arm, they are the dates that each of my foster kids came to live with us. I have the pair of hands, the Polish mountains that my grandma grew up by above the back of my elbow, a tiny lightning bolt behind my ear, a compass rose on my thigh, and my siblings and I have corresponding tattoos on our wrists.”</span></p><p> <span>She showed him a small row of five dots on her inner wrist where her watch usually sat. The second to last one was bigger than the other, “The big one is you?”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah, I had the tree on my thigh, roman numerals and this one, when I was in the CIA full-time, so to speak. I got more as I phased out. They were always covered when I was on duty, but we had to do a small sibling tattoo. Thank god Matt is afraid of needles otherwise it would have been way more ostentatious,” she laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“Wait, that was only fourteen tattoos,” he said counting in his head.</span></p><p> <span>“Damn, hoped you wouldn’t catch that,” she groaned. “I have the outline of Texas on my ankle.”</span></p><p> <span>“Do you really?” he asked amused.</span></p><p> <span>“I lived there for 22 years. I got it done right before I moved away for med school,” she sighed. “It’s the most embarrassing tattoo I have.”</span></p><p> <span>“That’s the most Texas thing you’ve done since I met you,” he replied grinning. She groaned and buried her face in his chest.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron wasn’t sure when they fell asleep that night. For a while afterwards they spoke in quiet voices about nothing. Norah was stressed about work, her sister was touring with her band again, and she thought one of her goats was ill. Aaron whispered about how he was sad that Jack was needing less and less time with him, preferring to see friends instead of their movie nights. Norah didn’t offer much at that confession, but held him a little closer. At some point he must have drifted off, because his alarm roused him. Quickly, so not to wake Norah, he turned it off and found her facing away from him curled up tightly. Even though they were no longer intertwined, Norah had backed herself against him. He lightly kissed her shoulder and went to get ready for the day. He quickly got dressed and brushed his teeth. Slipping out of the bedroom he went to brew some coffee. A few minutes later he heard Norah pad down the hall and into the kitchen. Before he turned around, she wrapped her arms around him.</span></p><p> <span>“’Morning,” she said in a rough voice.</span></p><p> <span>“Did I wake you?”</span></p><p> <span>“Don’t think so,” she yawned. Once the coffee was done, he poured her a mug and handed it to her. She sat it down on the island and began helping him make a quick breakfast.</span></p><p> <span>“Do you not like the coffee?” he asked, confused. She drank coffee all the time.</span></p><p> <span>“I’m allergic to caffeine,” she replied, not looking up from what she was doing.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re allergic to caffeine?” he asked surprised. “How did I not know this?”</span></p><p> <span>Norah paused for a second and then said, “I think this is the first time you’ve made me coffee. Most of the time I make it, or we grab it somewhere.”</span></p><p> <span>As he thought about it, he seemed to recall that every time she ordered coffee, she always ordered decaf. “Do you brew me decaf coffee?”</span></p><p> <span>“No, I have caffeinated coffee for friends and family,” she replied. “Caffeine really fucks with my kidneys, so I just don’t drink caffeine.”</span></p><p> <span>“I can’t believe I never realized. I’m supposed to be an FBI agent,” he said. Norah laughed.</span></p><p> <span>“Don’t worry, no one really remembers. It’s a weird thing to be allergic to.”</span></p><p> <span>“Wait, so you’re telling me you go through twelve-hour shifts without any caffeine?” he asked suddenly realizing how he could barely stand the mornings without coffee.</span></p><p> <span>“I drink a lot of water and take B12 supplements,” she replied shrugging.</span></p><p> <span>“I think I’m in awe of you,” he stated. Norah smiled and kissed him.</span></p><p> <span>Norah got dressed back in her clothes from last night and together they walked out of his apartment. It seemed very domestic, making something in Aaron’s chest warm. He gave her one more searing kiss before she got into her car to go home. Despite the horrid traffic and the mountain of consults waiting for him at work, he was happy. Even still, once he pulled into the parking garage, he schooled his features and walked into the building and up to his office. He had a meeting with Garcia to discuss cases in a few minutes, but until then he pulled out his phone and texted Jack to see what he wanted to do for dinner. Even though Garcia was…eccentric, she was a valuable member of the team. Furthermore, she was the only person who reminded him how human they all were. She was bright and loud and the stark difference between their depressing day job and real life. He heard her heels coming up the stairs before she knocked on his door. He’d been looking over case files and grimacing. There wasn’t a good pick in the bunch; all of them needed attention and time that he did not have. Garcia smiled brightly at him as she walked in and shut the door.</span></p><p> <span>“Good morning, sir!” she chirped sitting in the desk chair across from him. She had a pen with a fluffy end sticking behind her ear. Today’s bright color was yellow and light blue. He thought that he saw a rubber duck on her necklace, but he couldn’t be sure.</span></p><p> <span>“Good morning, Garcia. How was your morning?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“My morning?” she asked, briefly confused. “Oh, it was good. How about yours, sir?”</span></p><p> <span>“It was fine,” he lied. It had been more than fine, but he certainly wasn’t going to broadcast his sex life across the office.</span></p><p> <span>“Okay then,” Garcia replied, still looking confused. Nevertheless, she began running through the statistics of the case files in front of them. Over the next hour they prioritized and assigned caseloads. Afterwards, she sent out everyone’s assignment.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron began looking over his case files. A couple hours later, with a desperate need for coffee and to stretch his legs, he walked into the bullpen. JJ and Reid were talking while looking over one of their case assignments. Rossi was standing over by the coffee maker and waved a coffee cup in Aaron’s direction. He nodded and the older man poured him a cup. For a few minutes they briefly caught up with each other. Aaron said nothing about meeting Norah’s foster daughter nor their nighttime activities. He spoke mainly about Jack, but then mentioned,</span></p><p> <span>“I learned that Norah is allergic to caffeine.”</span></p><p> <span>Rossi looked interested. “That sounds terrible. The only thing worse would be becoming allergic to alcohol.”</span></p><p> <span>“Pasta?” Aaron suggested his amusement growing when Rossi sighed dramatically and threw his hand against his chest.</span></p><p> <span>“Be still my heart, I would die,” he stated. Aaron cracked a small smile.</span></p><p> <span>Aaron walked back to his office, briefly stopping at the team’s desks to check on their caseloads. He had wandered back into his office and began looking at his files when someone knocked on his door again. He saw Rossi and JJ outside his door. Gesturing for them to come in, he wondered what they needed. The pair wore specifically blank faces as they walked in his office. JJ sat down while Rossi shut the door and then followed suit. His confusion grew until he saw Rossi break and a smirk land on his jovial face. He was suddenly aware that his two friends had seen through his nonchalant exterior. He wondered what tipped them off.</span></p><p> <span>“You dirty dog,” he declared. JJ sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.</span></p><p> <span>“Rossi,” she chastised. Aaron arched an eyebrow, silently suggesting they get to the point.</span></p><p> <span>“It is the only reasonable explanation for his behavior,” Rossi defended.</span></p><p> <span>“And what behavior would that be?” Aaron dared to ask.</span></p><p> <span>“You asked Garcia about her morning, asked me about our caseloads,” JJ listed.</span></p><p> <span>“You laughed at a bad joke of mine,” Rossi announced as though that had cinched the case. JJ rolled her eyes again and said,</span></p><p> <span>“We just wanted to see why you came to work in such a good mood.”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron mulled over how to respond. He had no intention of telling them what happened last night, so he settled with, “It seems like you have an idea of your own. It also seems like those ideas are not work appropriate conversation.”</span></p><p> <span>JJ snickered and stood, “Well, whatever the case, I’m glad you had a good night Hotch.”</span></p><p> <span>“Especially if that night was with a hot doctor,” Rossi added following JJ out of his office. “Don’t forget about Thursday!”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron smiled to himself and went back to his file.</span></p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>For Norah’s work, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were spent in meetings with the hospital board. Even now, months later, they were still discussing the community college attack that resulted in their hospital being overrun with cases. Thursday’s swath of meetings was regarding interpersonal communication, which was fancy board speak for making sure all staff knew what was happening. The board was upset that no one was informed when the bomber was brought into the hospital. Norah called bullshit on that because she had explicit instruction given to the staff regarding that patient, but allowed the board to express themselves before setting them straight. The other head attendings were on her side, as everyone was under intense scrutiny as annual budgets came due. By the time she was out and onto her normal rounds in the ER her brain was exhausted, and she spent twenty minutes looking at blood work when she should have been looking at an EKG.</span>
</p><p> <span>“Fucking hell,” she moaned laying her head down against the cool table.</span></p><p> <span>“Meetings going well?” Harry asked, sitting down next to her.</span></p><p> <span>“It’s probably against the Hippocratic Oath to kill hospital board members, huh?”</span></p><p> <span>“Probably. Doesn’t mean it would be bad, per se,” Harry replied making her laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“Be honest with me, how much do I look like I want to die right now? Like on a scale of 1-10. I have another two hours of my shift and I am going to hang out with my boyfriend’s friends.”</span></p><p> <span>“Right now? Like a 6, but by the time you leave, probably an 8,” he said.</span></p><p> <span>“Ugh. You’re right. But ugh,” she said rubbing her eyes.</span></p><p> <span>“How is the whole dating thing going?” Harry asked. Norah, despite her exhaustion, smiled a bit.</span></p><p> <span>“Pretty good actually. It’s almost been five months. He’s great, he has a son who is lovely, and we’ve already had two decent fights with no dramatic antics, just healthy adult communication,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Nothing is sexier than healthy adult communication,” Harry agreed. “Are you ever going to bring him by?”</span></p><p> <span>“Absolutely not,” she responded. Harry mocked outrage.</span></p><p> <span>“And why not? Don’t you trust us not to terrify your boyfriend with CPR dummies or blood?”</span></p><p> <span>“He investigates serial killers. I doubt we could show him anything that he hasn’t seen,” she replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Ah, but has he ever seen the box of stuff pulled from people’s butts?” he asked. “Because if you ask me. That very pointy crystal trophy is far more terrifying than any blood or gore.”</span></p><p> <span>“Someone stuck that up their ass? I just thought…well I’d hoped…” she trailed off horrified.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh yeah, up his butt. No lube,” Harry sighed.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh god. Oh my god.”</span></p><p> <span>While talking with Harry did little for her energy level, it did wonders for her mood, even if she was still a little horrified at the butt trophy. By the time her shift ended she was feeling good about officially meeting the team. Technically she’d met them before during the nightmare that was the terror attack in January and then again briefly during the community college attack, but it was late August and she’d really only interacted with them a couple times since. Before leaving Norah changed into more appropriate clothing (aka she ditched the scrubs for a pair of dark jeans and a blouse) and while in her car sprayed on some perfume. Aaron had texted her the address to Rossi’s house earlier and she found it with ease. She parked her car and took a deep breath. Going in she was positive that JJ and Garcia were going to be easy; she was old friends with JJ and had gone out enough with Garcia that while they may not be considered good friends, she certainly was a known entity. Everyone else, Morgan, Reid, Rossi, she was nervous that she wouldn’t endear herself well enough.</span></p><p> <span>The logical voice in her head reminded her that was nonsense, but sometimes anxiety got the best of her. In order to feel presentable—or really to give her another few minutes to steel herself—Norah applied a tiny amount of makeup. Normally makeup was not something she wore on an everyday basis; it felt weird on her face and after spending most of her teens and twenties hating how she looked Norah made the determination that makeup was not helpful. Nevertheless, she kept a bottle of mascara, some concealer and an eyebrow pencil in her bag just in case. Once she felt confident enough to walk into the proverbial lion’s den, she called Aaron and told him she’d arrived. Walking up to the house, Norah briefly wondered if Aaron had felt like on Monday while meeting Maggie. Norah knew it was customary to bring a gift, so she took a chance on hers, desperately praying that information Aaron gave her was accurate.</span></p><p> <span>Before she even walked up to the front door a man she recognized as David Rossi flung it open and loudly proclaimed, “Welcome, my dear!”</span></p><p> <span>Norah smiled at the welcoming man. “It’s nice to see you again, Agent Rossi.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ah! Call me Dave,” he said. He showed her into the entryway.</span></p><p> <span>“It’s respectful to give a gift to the host and Aaron said that you like to make your own pasta, so I figured you might like some fresh eggs. They came from my chickens this morning,” she told him, handing over the brown carton she gave away eggs in.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s much more unique than a bottle of wine,” he replied, taking the carton and peaking inside. “What do you feed your chickens? These eggs are huge.”</span></p><p> <span>“Well, I’m not a wine person and Aaron mentioned you were. I figured my wine pick would be more insulting than kind so…eggs,” she finished lamely almost immediately regretting the choice.</span></p><p> <span>“I can’t wait to cook with them. The best ingredients are locally sourced, you know,” he told her, putting her nerves at ease. “Everyone is in the backyard. Can I get you something to drink or eat?”</span></p><p> <span>“I ate at the hospital and whatever everyone else is having will be fine with me,” she replied. He showed her through his (massive) home and into the kitchen where he poured her a glass of white wine. Then he showed her out into the backyard. Aaron stood to greet her. He kissed her cheek and steered her toward the empty chair next to him.</span></p><p> <span>“Good to see you again, Dr. Michaelson,” Reid said.</span></p><p> <span>“Why don’t we do introductions for the good doctor?” Rossi asked. They went around the table with their names. She knew most everyone except for Morgan’s girlfriend, Savannah, who was a doctor at a hospital in Maryland. Savannah was gorgeous and the pair looked extraordinarily happy. She knew JJ and Will, but met the new member of Aaron’s team, Tara Lewis. Norah remembered him updating her about the new addition, but couldn’t recall much about her. Once introductions were over, they returned to whatever conversations were happening before she walked in.</span></p><p> <span>Savannah spoke to her first, “What’s your specialty?”</span></p><p> <span>“I'm the head ER attending St. Mary’s in Alexandria,” Norah replied. “What about you?”</span></p><p> <span>“Pediatrics, but I’ll sometimes do rotations in the ER, too. Those days are always crazy,” she replied. “Do you have a box?”</span></p><p> <span>Norah laughed, “Actually one of the nurses and I were talking about our box today. The worst we have is a crystal obelisk statue. I was told that there was no lubricant involved in the insertion.”</span></p><p> <span>“Oh my god,” Savannah replied horrified.</span></p><p> <span>“What is a box?” Reid asked, turning towards the pair. Morgan, too, had begun to pay attention to their conversation.</span></p><p> <span>“You’re the ER doctor,” Savannah replied, gesturing towards her. Norah grimaced and replied,</span></p><p> <span>“Sometimes, well, frequently. People will stick things into their bodies that shouldn’t be stuck into their bodies and when they can’t get them out, they come to the ER. We typically have one of them once or twice a month.”</span></p><p> <span>“You mean people get stuff stuck in their asses?” Morgan asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah basically,” she shrugged, sipping on her wine.</span></p><p> <span>“What is the worst thing you’ve heard of?” Reid asked intrigued. If Norah had known they wanted gross ER stories she would have glanced in the box before she left.</span></p><p> <span>“Well, the obelisk statue is probably the largest. I’ve personally removed the standard cylindrical objects, a couple of battery-operated dildos, but the wildest one was a candle. But one of the really thick ones. We sedated him and gave him a muscle relaxer, but because the internal body temperature was so warm, we couldn’t get it out, so he had to go into surgery,” she told them.</span></p><p> <span>“Most hospitals are seeing an increasing trend of removing foreign objects from rectum which is why a lot of them are pushing for more sex education in schools,” Reid rattled off.</span></p><p> <span>“You just know that?” Norah asked.</span></p><p> <span>“He just knows that. And a lot of other useless facts,” Morgan sighed.</span></p><p> <span>Norah thought for a moment and asked, “So I could ask you anything and you’d probably know the answer to it?”</span></p><p> <span>“There’s a good chance. I’m not up to date on a lot of medical procedures as of late. I’m behind on my STEM reading,” Reid replied. Aaron was right, this kid was an absolute trip to speak to.</span></p><p> <span>“What was the reason that Kellogg invented cornflakes?” she asked. It seemed unfair for her to ask a niche medical question, so she settled with medically adjacent.</span></p><p> <span>“To stop masturbation,” he replied grinning.</span></p><p> <span>“Damn,” Norah said leaning back into her chair.</span></p><p> <span>“You’ll never be able to beat him,” Aaron said, putting an arm around her. “He has an encyclopedic knowledge of everything.”</span></p><p> <span>“Even his guesses are exceedingly accurate,” Rossi stated.</span></p><p> <span>“Surely there is something you don’t know,” Norah replied. “You can’t know everything.”</span></p><p> <span>“I don’t. I just know enough about everything to figure out the rest,” Reid shrugged.</span></p><p> <span>“Corpse medicine?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Using body parts to try and cure ailments,” he replied.</span></p><p> <span>“Why do people get tired after eating large meals?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“The acid produced by the digesting stomach makes the PH level of blood more basic and thus make it harder for oxygen to bond to blood and transport throughout the body.”</span></p><p> <span>“Dammit that was my hard question,” Norah replied.</span></p><p> <span>“You gave it your best shot,” Aaron said encouragingly, rubbing her shoulder.</span></p><p> <span>She got drawn into a conversation with JJ, Tara and Morgan about the weirdest cases they’d worked and Norah, for once, was grateful that was not her life. Despite the blood and gore that she saw on a daily basis, as well as a startlingly number of appendicitis, most of her work was not horrendous in nature. Even during her tenure at the CIA she hadn’t been subjected to some of the horrors that Aaron and his team had seen.</span></p><p> <span>“So how did you two meet?” Tara asked gesturing to JJ and Norah.</span></p><p> <span>“She was with State while I was in the CIA. We crossed paths a few times at embassies,” Norah replied easily recalling JJ’s cover story.</span></p><p> <span>“You were CIA?” Tara asked. “How’d you do that and a medical degree.”</span></p><p> <span>“Ah, that’s the kicker. They recruited me in med school I did the Eastern Europe equivalent of Doctors Without Borders, but worked with some of the shadier nonprofits, I mainly focused on a drug smuggling and human trafficking, but ran into Nazis a lot,” Norah shrugged. “My grandma is from Poland, so I grew up speaking Polish. That accent is hard to teach.”</span></p><p> <span>“But now you’re just a doctor?” she asked.</span></p><p> <span>“Oh yeah. I got tired of spending six months of the year away from friends and family. I slowly began to phase out a few years ago,” Norah replied. “Spent a month abroad last year to wrap up some loose ends, but I’m the head ER attending at St. Mary’s and I don’t plan on doing anything else, too much work.”</span></p><p> <span>Norah was surprised with how easy it was to get along with Aaron’s team. She doubted it would have been as easy if she hadn’t known JJ or Garcia, but for the most part the men and women of Aaron’s work family were welcoming, fun, and interesting to talk with. They were also exceedingly competitive as she learned when JJ and Will pulled out the cornhole platforms. She hadn’t seen one of these lawn games since she lived in the Midwest. Most of the team had no interest in tossing bean bags at a small hole, but Morgan, Savannah, Garcia and Norah were ecstatic about the game. They split up into teams of three with Norah joining JJ and Will. Out of the trio, Will was their weakest link but managed to mostly hold his own. Despite appearances, Garcia was incredible at the game, which led to her and Morgan bickering about who was the worst on their team. It was definitely Morgan, but he refused to believe them. At the end of the game Norah’s team had won by slim margins. Garcia and Savannah were not sore losers, Morgan on the other hand continually complained about how his bag was blown off the board by the wind for the rest of the night.</span></p><p> <span>Once their get-together wound down, Norah and Aaron stayed behind to help clean up. Norah wasn’t due back at work until Sunday, so she had the rest of the night to do what she wanted. Aaron stuck around to see Norah for longer. Dishes and clean up didn’t take long, which meant that Aaron and Norah sat at Rossi’s kitchen island while he puttered around putting up the dried dishes. Norah knew that Aaron and Dave were close, which is why she was trying to find something they had in common, unfortunately there wasn’t much until she said,</span></p><p> <span>“I bartended in med school to make ends meet and I can still remember most cocktail recipes by heart.”</span></p><p> <span>“What is your favorite?” he asked.</span></p><p> <span>“The one that I make the most is a Boulevardier. But I really enjoy whisky for the most part,” she said.</span></p><p> <span>“That’s very Texas of you,” he replied, making her laugh.</span></p><p> <span>“Yeehaw.”</span></p><p> <span>“I’m more of a bourbon neat kind of guy myself. But I’ll never say no to a good glass of wine,” he told her.</span></p><p> <span>And just like that, she managed to break the ice with Rossi and connect with him on something. Even if that something was alcoholic. It was nearing eleven when Aaron and Norah finally left Rossi’s house. He walked her to her car across the street and said,</span></p><p> <span>“What are your plans tomorrow?”</span></p><p> <span>“I have to clean my bathroom, but not much else. Why?”</span></p><p> <span>“I took tomorrow off to spend with Jack before he goes back to school on Monday, and tomorrow we are picking up the last few bits of his school supplies. We wanted you to come with us, or at least meet us for lunch.”</span></p><p> <span>“What do you need for school supplies?”</span></p><p> <span>“A lot of notebooks,” he sighed. “I think a couple of binders too. This is the first year Jack is going to have a locker, so he wanted to buy some shelves or something. We’ll probably be leaving around 10 or so.”</span></p><p> <span>“Yeah that sounds fun. I can meet you at your place around 9:30?”</span></p><p> <span>Aaron smiled and kissed her lightly. “Sounds great.”</span></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There is one more chapter and an epilogue coming for this story. I have a bit of writer's block on the last chapter, but I'm hoping by the time I finish editing and revising Chapter 9 I'll have figured out the best way to end this story. Once again, thank you all for your kind wishes! It is so encouraging to see the nice comments on this, a definite boost to my writing self esteem, haha.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ever the punctual person, Norah knocked on Aaron’s door at exactly 9:30 the next morning. He opened it and greeted her. Walking in, she and took stock of the chaotic looking living room. School supplies and clothes were strewn everywhere with Jack sitting in the middle of the chaos with his phone in hand desperately trying to make a list of what else was needed. He said hello to Norah, but was so engrossed in what he was doing that he barely took notice of Aaron herding her to the kitchen telling her he had a surprise for her. He grabbed a mug from the counter and handed it to her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It’s decaf,” he said. Her face broke into a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You bought decaf coffee for me?” she asked. He nodded. She grinned and kissed his cheek “Best boyfriend ever.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Well if that’s all it took,” he replied chuckling.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>The coffee wasn’t great if she was honest, but the thought counted far more than Aaron’s abysmal taste in coffee. With her decaf coffee in hand she walked into the living to see how Jack was fairing. The answer was not well, so she sat down with him and began to help organize the chaos of the room until everything was in neat piles and Jack’s list was completed. The trio left a little after midmorning, and the whole time Jack talked about how excited he was for soccer and having a locker. They talked about his classes and what teachers he had. Whenever they reached the store it was Norah who sat on the ground weighing the pros and cons of each color pencil while Aaron leaned against the cart amused.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Colored pencils are an important choice,” Norah replied, narrowing her eyes at him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I said nothing,” he replied holding his hands up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You’re saying nothing pretty loudly over there,” she remarked smiling as she and Jack moved onto the choice of mechanical pencils and pens.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron stood watch as Norah and Jack systematically weighed the pros and cons of each of the remaining school supplies items. After checking out, they headed to a local pizza shop. Norah and Jack grabbed a seat in the back corner of the restaurant while Aaron went to order their pizzas. Over the course of the summer she and Jack found a friendly rhythm they fell into. She would update him on her animals and funny work stories while he told her about Boy Scouts, soccer, and his friends. Once or twice he had asked a question about her mother, but more often than not they joked around and had fun.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hey Norah?” Jack asked suddenly. She noticed he was watching Aaron standing in line.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What’s up?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sometimes I get sad and miss my mom. Do you…d’you think that we could talk about it sometime. Not now or anything, but you’re the only person I know who didn’t have a mom when they were a kid,” he said hesitantly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah did her best to swallow her surprise. “If you dad doesn’t have a problem with it, I certainly don’t. If you’re sad about it a lot, you might want to go see a counselor. They are really great at making you feel better. I still see one.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jack chewed on his lip. “I see Riley once a month because my dad is concerned, I’ll be maladapted if I don’t.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Maladapted?” she asked, amused.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jack shrugged, his eyes on Aaron still. “Heard dad and Riley say it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You’re not maladapted, Jack. But let me know when you want to talk, and I’ll set it up.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Could you ask dad about it? Talking about mom makes him sad,” he replied. Norah’s heart ached for him and Aaron. It was a heavy weight to carry around for such a young kid. Frankly she wasn’t sure what to say so she settled with,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I can let him know you want to talk to me, but I think you should tell him too. Talking about your mom might make him sad, but that doesn’t mean he won’t. He wants to know how you’re feeling way more than he cares about being sad. It’s what parents do.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jack just nodded, so Norah changed the topic back to something comfortable for him. When Aaron returned, he noticed Jack had deflated a bit, but throughout lunch his spirits were lifted at the thought of going to the sports shop for more shin guards. As soon as they arrived, Jack immediately sprinted towards the fancy cleats and shin guards. Aaron dutifully steered him towards the section meant for thirteen-year-olds and not pro players. While Jack began rifling through shin guard, Norah pulled Aaron a few paces away and said,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Jack shared a few things with me at lunch while you were ordering. When we get back to your apartment, I want to let you know what was said. Public is not the best place for it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Is something wrong?” he asked, immediately concerned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Not really, but I think that because I lost my mom there’s a bit more of a connection there than I realized,” she told him. Aaron closed his eyes briefly and Norah did her best to swallow the lump that was rising in her throat. For a man with such a strong poker face, he really wasn’t great at hiding the grief he still felt. Norah understood why Jack was hesitant. When you’re thirteen you don’t understand that negative feelings should still be talked about.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“So it’s about Haley?” he asked. Norah nodded. “Okay, thank you for letting me know.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting gesture and they walked a bit closer to Jack in time for him to shove the shin guards at Aaron and take off towards the soccer balls. Aaron rolled his eyes fondly at Jack while he weighed the merits of each ball. Eventually, they managed to drag Jack from the store back to their apartment. As soon as they reached the door Jack flew in and started taking stuff to his room to get ready for the first day. When Aaron was certain Jack was suitably distracted, he pulled Norah into his bedroom and gently shut the door. She sat on the edge of the bed while he sat in a small chair against the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What did he say?” Aaron asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He asked if he could talk to me when he got sad about Haley. I said he could if you were okay with it. He mentioned Riley who I assume is a therapist that he sees so he isn’t “maladapted”. He wanted me to ask you about it, because he doesn’t like seeing you sad about Haley. I just told him that you still want him to come to you about it, but that I would tell you he talked to me,” she relayed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron shagged in the chair and rubbed his hands over his face. He was silent for a while before saying, “He used the word maladapted?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Apparently he heard you and Riley talking,” she said shrugging. “He used it correctly, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron chuckled humorlessly at that. “I knew he was having a hard time. He’s been asking Jessica about her a lot, but I didn’t realize he wasn’t coming to me because he was worried about making me upset. I was afraid he blamed me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah stayed silent, mainly because she wasn’t sure what to say in response to that. She knew enough psychology to know that there was a chance that when Jack was older and really able to understand what happened, he might. Frankly, Norah doubted it, but Aaron’s fear was valid if not a little unlikely. Aaron let out another harsh breath and said,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’ll talk to him about it tonight. Thank you for letting me know.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It won’t offend me if you don’t want him to talk to me about everything, you know. Should I become…more permanent I guess, I would never, ever try and replace that relationship. I actually had to take classes about it when Peter and I began fostering, so I can walk the line,” she said quietly. Aaron looked up at her surprised.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What? Norah, I never thought that’s what you were trying and I—” he began.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hey,” she said softly, cutting him off, “I know that. But I wanted to make sure where I stand is clear. Jack is totally welcome to talk to me about anything. But if you’re going to allow that we should discuss boundaries ahead of time. I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron nodded. “Let me talk to him and think about it. But thank you for letting me know. The heads-up was appreciated.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah nodded and they stood up. Aaron wrapped his arms around her tightly. The emotion that she’d managed to keep at bay was threatening to burst. It was a weird place to be, dating a man whose ex-wife died and desperately wishing she were alive even if that meant that their relationship was no longer a possibility.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You’re a good father, Aaron. Even if you don’t feel like it. I’ve seen shitty fathers and good fathers. You’re a good one,” she whispered quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m going to go check on Jack,” he said. She knew that he felt extreme guilt regarding his son, so she wasn’t surprised when he quickly left after her statement. </span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>After the quiet conversation about Jack, Norah walked into the kitchen. Puttering around she decided to brew some of the shitty decaf coffee Aaron had bought for her. Sure it was terrible, but in this case the thought of him making an effort and buy coffee she could drink warmed her heart. Although next time she came over, she planned on bringing some of her own bags, because this coffee truly was shit. </span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Did you make coffee?” he asked. His melancholy seemed to have gone in the past few minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, Want some?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure,” he replied. She poured him a cup and hid her smile when he grimaced after taking a sip of coffee. He sat down the mug and said, “Um, about a minute ago. I’m sorry I got so weird on you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“But it’s weird. I know. Trust me I know. Just let me know what you need, don’t need, what the boundaries are, and I’ll respect that. You’re setting the rules here and I’ll defer to them,” she said simply. “It’s awkward, sure, but definitely not the worst conversation we’ve ever had.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>He gave her a small smile. “You’re a great girlfriend.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Oh I know,” she grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>A couple weeks later, she and Aaron did have that conversation about boundaries and relationships. He didn’t mind Jack coming to her about whatever he wanted. They talked about when she would disclose what he said, which boiled down to if there was a bad situation Aaron wasn’t aware of, she would give him a heads up but wouldn’t disclose what Jack had told her. At some point Aaron must have given Jack her number because she began to occasionally receive a bad meme or TikTok here and there. But for the first few weeks of school, things seemed peaceful. Norah began joining Jack and Aaron for dinners sometimes and Jack began asking her to come to his soccer games. She was perhaps overly exuberant at his soccer game but between her, Jessica, Aaron and Dave (who showed up slightly hungover), they were probably the loudest group in the stands. Before Norah knew it, October had rolled around and in fact, Halloween was sooner rather than later.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah was on shift on Halloween night which probably disappointed Aaron more than Jack, since Jack had a friend’s party he was going to attend. Jessica would be out of town with her husband and Aaron didn’t want to be handing out candy alone. Most of the time local police were too busy with the vandalism and petty crimes during Halloween to call out the team, so the odds were he wouldn’t have a case. Eventually he and Dave determined that they would hand out candy together at his house and watch the classic Hitchcock movies. Norah was amused by his plans and promised to text him all the weird things that happened that night.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Frankly the night was not near as crazy as she’d assumed it would be. A few kids came in with some falling injuries. One kid broke his toe kicking trash cans. A few drug addicts did their best to get drugs. But normally Halloween caused a huge influx of wild cases especially in her trauma ER. Later in the night they start receiving a few patients who’d been in violent altercations, but everything was par for the course at this point. By the time she got off shift, she was exhausted but not with the normal batch of Halloween stories to tell. Getting home, she dealt with the necessary chores and then immediately crashed on her couch, not bothering to go upstairs to her bed. A couple hours later her phone rang, rousing her from her fitful sleep.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“’Lo?” she asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Norah, it’s Aaron,” he said worriedly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, I have caller ID,” she replied rolling on her back trying to wake up still. “D’ya need somethin’?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I have a huge favor to ask of you. Jessica is still out of town and we’ve been called away on an emergency case. If you can’t, that’s totally fine I can stay behind. But it is looking like an all hands-on deck situation and Jessica gets back in…four days on Monday. So it wouldn’t be for that long. And I would owe you big time,” he rattled off. Still sleepy and with very little of her filter still intact.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Aaron you keep saying words but I’m not hearing what you need from me,” she yawned.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Did I wake you up? I’m so sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Aaron</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Right, apologies. Can you watch Jack this weekend? I know that you’re working Saturday, but with everyone out of town I’m struggling to find someone to watch him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah that’s fine. I can get someone to cover my shift on Saturday,” she said. “When do I need to come get him?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Can you pick him up from school?” Aaron asked. “We’re headed for the jet right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sure. Can you text me the information? I need another hour of sleep before I’m a functional human being.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Absolutely. So sorry for waking you up and thank you so much for doing this.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“No problem. Talk to you later,” she mumbled, falling back asleep, though not before setting an alarm to make sure she was awake in time to pick Jack up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>A few hours later she was sitting on a concrete bench in front of Jack’s school. The weather was quickly cooling down again and Norah had grabbed her coat before leaving her house. Aaron said he’d texted Jack and let him know. When Norah had finally woken up from her nap more so than sleep, she realized that she was out of nearly everything. So she quickly made a list of things she needed in order to make a quick grocery run before picking up her house guest at school. On Thursdays he was free in the evenings, but Fridays he had soccer practice. So after she picked him up, they would run by his apartment to grab some clothes, but then head back to her place.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Norah!” A voice yelled. She looked up to see Jack racing towards her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hey Jack,” she said standing. “I hear you’re going to hang out with me until Monday.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, dad texted me. He also said that he told you about everything, but really my bedtime is more of a suggestion.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Nice try,” she told him, steering the boy towards her SUV. “But if you want to stage dangerous looking photos to send to your dad, I can get behind that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I knew I liked you Norah,” Jack said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jack made quick work of packing, so Norah did one last check of the apartment in order to ensure everything was in good shape before she locked up. The drive back to her house was filled with a barrage of updates about school, his friends, this girl he was friends with but was definitely not his girlfriend and his classes. He still hadn’t given up the idea of wanting to be a doctor, but he was thinking of going into the military first. By the time they reached Norah’s house, Jack had been filling her in on the newest Spider Man movie he’d watched. But once she parked all bets were off because Jack wanted to go see the goats.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>While he was busy outside with the goats and dogs, she grabbed his bag and tossed it in the guest room while she went downstairs to get some chores done. One of which was collecting eggs from her chickens. Jack seemed interested but hesitant to get near them, so she spent the next few minutes showing him how to grab the eggs and make sure the chickens were happy. Sadie, the chicken she hated the most, began following Jack around much to his delight. Norah could fathom as to why all the animals that hated her loved Jack, but it was cute to watch. As slyly as she could, she snapped a picture of Jack holding Sadie and sent it to Aaron.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>It was dinner time once the outside chores were done. In an effort to entertain the boy some, she taught him how to make homemade pizza and which they topped with the basic cheese and pepperoni. While it cooked in the oven, Jack started his homework. He had a few math and English worksheets and managed to finish them before dinner was done. Aaron called him at 8pm to tell him goodnight and remind him to get ready for bed. Before Norah knew it, she was gently shutting the guest bedroom door. She did some hospital paperwork while she watched some generic reality TV show on Netflix. It was nearly 11:30 when her phone rang.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hello?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“How’d it go?” Aaron asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Pretty well. We did some outside chores, he did his homework, ate dinner and then basically went to bed,” she said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“And you made sure his phone stayed in the kitchen?” Aaron asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yup, he left it on the kitchen counter. I’m looking at it right now,” she told him. “He wants to make a swing for that tree in my backyard this weekend. Honestly, it’s a pretty good idea.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron huffed and said, “He has some grand ideas.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“How’s your case going?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Not great,” he replied sighing. She heard him sit down. “We found a huge dump site and there’s not a lot that we can do until we start getting forensics back.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What is that eta looking like?” she asked, setting aside her folders.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Tomorrow. Right now we’re pouring over missing persons flagging likely profiles. But the news picked up on it and everyone who has a missing loved one is reaching out. We’re stretched thin.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m sorry to hear it. Would you like to hear something that might cheer you up for a second?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Please.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Remember that chicken Sadie? The one who escaped all the time and bites me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, I think so.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“We can add that to the list of animals that hate me but love your son.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Was that the chicken he was holding?” Aaron asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It certainly was,” she sighed. “If I were a worse person, I’d be jealous. Actually, I’m jealous. I’m jealous that your thirteen-year-old is beloved by all of my animals even when I’m not.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You still have the goats,” Aaron pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Touche, I still have goats.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>There was some yelling on the other end of the call and Aaron said, “I have to go, we have a couple positive IDs. Tell Jack I love him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah hung up and managed to fall asleep in her bed instead of on the couch this time. Friday morning felt frantic. Norah had been responsible for taking children to and from school for years and yet somehow she never remembered the sheer horror of waking up only to discover that there was hardly enough time to get out the door. Nevertheless, they managed, and Jack got to school on time. Most of her day off was spent in town running errands and desperately trying to figure out what she and Jack were going to do Saturday and Sunday. That afternoon she hung out on the bleachers while Jack had his soccer practice. The coach gave her a few things to pass onto Aaron, but for the most part the day went smoothly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>They picked up pizza and snacks on their way back to her house for an impromptu movie night. They watched yet another superhero movie. Most of which Jack spent hanging upside off of her couch. Despite his good mood in the morning Jack had gone quiet once she’d picked him up and just shrugged or gave monosyllabic responses to her question. When the movie ended it was later than she knew Aaron would have wanted Jack up, but she couldn’t help but ask,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t have to be,” she said. He just shrugged. “Okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Why don’t you get ready for bed then.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jack didn’t move but said, “This new kid Blake said something mean to me today. I know it shouldn’t bother me, because he’s stupid but it does.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What did he say?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He and his friends were being mean and said something about my mom. I didn’t really hear them, but I just knew,” Jack sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What did you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Dad said to ignore them, but Finn and Matt and I yelled back at them. Well, Finn mainly. Matt doesn’t really know that my mom died.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m sorry that happened to you Jack. Did you tell a teacher?” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>He shrugged again. “It’ll just make it worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah sighed, said, “Is there anything I can do? Or maybe your dad or aunt?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Shaking his head, Jack asked, “Were kids mean to you about your mom?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah thought back to middle school. She was far too awkward growing up for anyone to care about her mom more than her weird quirks. She seemed to remember Mitzy Price saying that her mom left because she was too weird, but beyond that she couldn’t remember much else. She hadn’t told Aaron this but once he gave her the okay to talk to Jack about everything, she’d read a few books on grief and losing parents. Some of which she’d read before while becoming a foster parent, but she’d been out of practice a few good years.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I think one girl was mean to me in high school, but overall people really didn’t know about my mom being gone. But I also had three older siblings who were really scary and definitely would beat up kids for me if I asked. Unfortunately I cannot offer to beat up Blake and his friends, it would be frowned upon since I’m an adult and stuff,” she said. Jack gave a small laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Does it stop hurting?” he asked quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sometimes. Sometimes when I was really busy, I would forget that I didn’t have a mom. My grandma and aunts were great, I had two older sisters, and most of the time I was happy. But my mom, because she was so sick, she could get mean and angry when she wasn’t taking care of herself or allowing us to help her. The worst feeling was that sometimes I was happy she was gone, because when she was around she wasn’t always nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What did your mom have?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“She was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality disorder. She had a really hard childhood and because she never got help for it, it made her brain not work correctly. There would be years where she was on good medication and working with therapists and it would seem like she was going to be my mom again. But something would happen, and she’d get off the meds and the cycle would repeat. But Jack, that’s not your mom. Your mom loved you so, so much. I never met her, but it isn’t hard to see how much she loved you. So—and don’t tell your dad I said this, I think he’d kill me—Blake and his stupid little punk ass friends can suck it. They’re dumb and they are still learning to be real people. You’re just better adapted than they are.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m not maladapted?” he asked, smiling at her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Not even a little bit. Properly adapted you are,” Norah laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I just wish I knew how to stop them from being so mean,” Jack sighed. “It’s not just me they’re mean to, but everyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Ah so he’s an equal opportunist bully. Some people suggest that you don’t respond and ignore them which can be effective and might be here. But you should also let a teacher know. That doesn’t mean they have to do anything, but in case Blake gets more direct, you should tell a teacher.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah I guess I can tell Ms. Rojas on Monday,” he replied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“And maybe ask Finn and Matt not to react so strongly to him next time. Bullies like to feel powerful, so when they get those kinds of reactions they thrive on it,” Norah waited a beat and asked, “Does your dad know about Blake?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Not really. I think he knows something has been bothering me, but I want to handle it myself, ya know. I don’t need him fighting my battles.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Jack, you’re thirteen. You shouldn’t have to fight your battles alone just yet. Frankly, you’re still learning how. I called my dad for years after I went to college because I wasn’t always sure how to handle situations. Dads are there to make sure you have someone in your corner. And you know that your dad is in your corner.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, I guess I can tell him when he gets back.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sounds good. And why don’t we go out for breakfast tomorrow. There is a good waffle place I know of and I figured we could do something cool like the movies, perhaps?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I do want to see the new Lego movie,” Jack said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sounds like a plan. Now go get ready for bed. It’s almost midnight and your dad would kill me if he knew I let you stay up this late.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Saturday night, well after their exciting day at the movies and park, not to mention the tremendous waffles they got, Aaron called Norah and let her know they were on their way back. He thought they’d land around 7 that night so he could take Jack back home. Eventually she got him to agree to have dinner since she and Jack were already preparing to make fried chicken, the appropriate southern way. When Aaron walked through her door, she could easily tell the case had been rough. Jack was outside playing with her dogs, so it gave them a few minutes of privacy before the onslaught of an exuberant thirteen year old to come barreling through the door.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hey,” she said, moving away from the frying chicken. He gave her a weak smile and without much warning, pulled her against him nearly sagging into her. It was apparently a really bad case. They stood like that, Norah supporting Aaron as much as she could, before he finally pulled away and kissed the side of her head.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sorry,” he mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Don’t be. If you want a hug from your son, he’s in the back with the dogs,” she told him. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron nodded and walked outside. She heard Jack’s shouts and what sounded like Aaron grunting at the force of his son barreling into him. Not long after she’d set the food on the small table, the pair walked in. Aaron looked less overwhelmed and accepted a bottle of beer from Norah. She handed Jack his drink and then they all sat down. Jack detailed how they marinated the chicken last night and then breaded and fried it today with the “right southern spices'' which made Aaron laugh. For the next twenty minutes, Jack gave Aaron a play-by-play of their weekend. He left out their conversation last night and how late he stayed up which Norah didn’t fail to notice. They helped her clean up dinner, but didn’t stay much longer. Norah got the distinct impression that Aaron desperately wanted to go to bed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>The house felt very empty without the sounds of Jack in her backyard or the television shows he watched all afternoon. She hadn’t realized how much she missed having people around until they left.  The realization of it all, hit her hard and she began to realize that this relationship was edging closer and closer toward real, life altering decisions and it didn’t freak her out. With all of her previous relationship, or at least the ones after her failed marriage, the idea of settling down or becoming too serious was terrifying. Yet, settling down with Aaron and Jack sounded nice, even if neither of them had said “I love you” yet. She hadn’t realized they hadn’t uttered those words, because at some point it just became a reality that Aaron cared for her and she cared for him. He was an action-oriented person, as was she, so their “I Love You” looked more like helping each other out, bringing them food while at work, or babysitting. Her phone buzzed next to her, drawing her back from her thoughts. Picking up the phone she answered,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hello?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hey, I forgot to thank you for everything this weekend,” Aaron told her quietly. Jack must’ve fallen asleep already.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He was a joy, Aaron. I had fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He told me about Blake on the way home. Thank you for talking with him. I really lucked out on finding you, Norah. I couldn’t imagine…” he trailed off before clearing his throat and saying, “I love you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah grinned, “Yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You don’t have to say it back if you’re not there yet. I just realized I’d felt this way for awhile and hadn’t said anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I love you too, Aaron. Get some sleep, you need it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Some days in the ER were great. Medical cases were easily solved, drama was at a minimum, and there was time to laugh and joke with your coworkers. Other days were hectic, but laughing and joking was still manageable; weekends were a lot like this. The bad days, they only came once every few months. And yet this year they seemed to be more frequent. Norah had dealt with a massive car accident in February, the MCI in April and today (unfortunately an already busy weekend) she was dealing with an apartment fire. Fires were her least favorite. It was nearly impossible to make it through a burn event without losing your stomach contents or shedding a few tears. Even Norah, who’d spent years working in warzones and had the strongest stomach of anyone in the hospital struggled, and today was no different. She was counting down the hours until she could go home and curl up on her couch desperately trying to forget the angry burns and smells of the ER unit.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“How are you doing?” Norah asked Bethany. They were taking a breather in the break room before going back out to treat more patients.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Not good. Too many children,” she said, taking off her mask. Norah nodded and slid her bottle of peppermint oil over to her friend who splashed a few drops in her mask.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It’s a really bad one,” Norah agreed, her mouth set in a firm frown. She knew that she only had another minute before she had to walk back out and continue treating patients, but she needed all the time she could take.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Bethany looked like she was on the verge of tears, “I’m not sure I can go back out there.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah grabbed her friend’s hand. “I know. I know. Look, hangout in here for a few more minutes. I’ll go out and cover the intake, okay? We’ll make it through.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah splashed some more peppermint oil in her own mask, attempting to cover the smells that were emanated from the rooms. Once back out on the floor, she had little time to worry about being able to handle the sights and sounds before her, because EMS began to rush another wave of patients in and they needed her head on straight. With a straight posture, she began working through intake and assigning residents and nurses to patients. Bethany came out ten minutes later. She’d been crying, but had pulled it together in an effort to make it through. Most of the influx had ended. Everyone who needed critical care was being cared for, so Norah began floating trying to make sure residents had what they needed in order to be successful.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Dr. Yarema pulled her into his room where a young woman lay on the bed unconscious. She had vicious burns all over her legs and abdomen. She wasn’t doing well despite the burn bandages the nurses were placing all over her body. For the next hour she and Dr. Yarema desperately tried to get her blood pressure up and get her conscious again. No one was sure why she wouldn’t wake up, so after a neuro consult and tracking down the family for a medical history, their only choice was to send her to the burn unit and let neurology take over. Most of Norah’s cases ended up like that. She lost two people from lung damage and spent another two hours trying to remove melted clothing from a man’s back. By the time her shift ended, she sat in her car and felt the tears she’d held back for most of the evening break through.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah wasn’t sure how long she sobbed in her car, but it was well after nine by the time she checked her phone after her shift. She had a few messages from friends and two from her sister Gracie. There was a missed call from Aaron so she wiped the tears from her face, cleared her throat and called him back. It rang for a while and Norah wasn’t sure whether he was going to answer her. Right when she was going to hang up and text him, he picked up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hey sorry, I was in the other room.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, sorry I missed your call, work was—” to her horror, Norah’s voice broke.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Are you okay?” Aaron asked, evident in his voice. Norah cleared her throat again and desperately swallowed emotion.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah mostly. It was a bad day. What did you need?” she asked quickly hoping that if she talked faster the emotion in her voice wouldn’t be too evident.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I was going to invite you over for dinner tonight, but then I remembered you were working. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked again.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah felt her eyes burn and the lump in her throat return. She only managed to say, “No.” before more silent tears fell.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Do you want to come over? Jack’s in bed already and that kid could sleep through anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah sniffled and replied, “Yeah. Yeah I think I’ll stop by on my way home.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah, operating on autopilot, didn’t really remember the drive to Aaron’s apartment, because the next thing she knew was texting him she had arrived. Aaron opened the door; he was already in pajamas. Norah herself hadn’t changed out of her scrubs. She had another pair of clothes in the car but had forgotten to grab them before walking up. During the drive, she managed to pull herself together some but once inside sitting next to Aaron on his couch the tears began again.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What happened?” he asked, pulling her tightly against him, so her head rested under his chin. He wrapped both of his arms around her tightly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“A lot, I just need a hug right now,” she mumbled into his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>She knew that sometimes difficult days hit harder than others. There would be months that went by where she was hardly affected by anything, but some time a bad case of a flu would devastate her. Sometimes injuries made her sick, like a few months ago when that twelve car pile-up hit her ER and she managed to vomit in hospital flower beds. But even that day hadn’t stuck with her as much as today did. Her therapist had told her that brains are weird and sometimes unpredictable, which is why Norah couldn’t always predict when bad days would hit her like this. Thankfully, Aaron didn’t press and just held onto her silently. He lightly rubbed her back as she listened to his heartbeat. It ground her, knowing that there was someone else around. Norah had never lacked courage or bravery, she tackled problems head on and was quick on her feet. None of that mattered when she could still smell the smoke, burn wounds and blood from the ER. Norah was painfully aware of how long she’d sat like this, clinging to him like a child. She moved to pull away, but Aaron’s iron grip didn’t budge.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You’re still breathing erratically,” he whispered. “Just breathe with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>And she did. Slowly she eased into his embrace, relaxing into him. She felt him relax against her, too. She made no move to get up, forcing the anxious part of her brain to keep to itself for a moment. Eventually she said, “There was an apartment fire this afternoon.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“And the worst came to you?” he asked. She nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It felt like every time I looked up there was another person who needed help. We were frantic for hours. The injuries were…extreme,” she whispered afraid that she couldn’t speak any louder.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m sorry,” Aaron said, kissing the top of her head.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I can smell it still,” she told him. “I doused my mask in peppermint oil, but it was so strong I can still smell it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He didn’t ask what smell she was referring to. Briefly she wondered if he’d seen some of the atrocities that had been in her ER. What made her sad was the passing thought that if he had seen similar injuries, his victims were on purpose. At least she could rest easy knowing these injuries were on accident. No one had wanted to cause these people pain. Aaron could never say that, and that knowledge made her sadder. Sad that he knew the levels to which people were willing to go and cause others’ suffering. Sure, she’d seen car accidents, shootings, stabbings, and various injuries. But beyond rare cataclysmic events, most of the injuries she saw were negligence or accidents. The grief, though, she imaged the screams she heard this afternoon Aaron had heard too. </span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Do you want to shower and change?” he asked. She shrugged not really looking to leave him at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Maybe later. I just need…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“A hug?” he ventured.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>She could only nod.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>So they stayed like that for well over an hour. Neither speaking or moving much, until the scrubs and greasy hair finally proved too much for Norah to deal with. While Aaron went out to her car for her extra pair of clothes, she quickly washed off in his shower. Really Norah didn’t want to go home by herself, but staying over when Jack was home felt like a line she wasn’t willing to cross just yet. That was a big step and after the night she had, it wasn’t something she felt like dealing with either. So when Aaron handed her the sweatshirt and leggings from her car, she began gathering her stuff.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Are you leaving?” Aaron asked, his face impassive.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, I think so.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Should you be alone tonight?” he asked, still giving nothing away. Norah chewed on the inside of her lip.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m not going to do anything drastic, I’m just sad.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Norah,” Aaron said, holding her shoulders lightly. “Just stay the night. It’s late and I don’t feel comfortable with you being alone right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Jack is here,” she said as though it was obvious.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Well yes, he’s my son and lives with me,” Aaron intoned. Norah shot him a narrowed look.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“That’s a big step that he didn’t get a say in,” she told him. “I don’t want to make him feel weird. Not after everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron nodded and said, “Tomorrow is Sunday. He won’t get up until noon at least. If it makes you feel more comfortable you can leave before he wakes up.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah thought about it for a while before nodding. She saw Aaron visibly relax; she hadn’t realized how abnormal her behavior had been. If the roles were reversed, she would want him to stick around too. When Aaron was worried, he hovered. She’d noticed it once when Jack had a cold, but she’d never been on the receiving end of it. Frankly, she had half a mind to point it out to him. The other part of her appreciated the worry, even if it manifested by Aaron helping her into bed, despite the bedding being well within her reach. When he finally laid down next to her, he pulled her up against him, her head laying on his chest and leg draped over his thigh. He fell asleep long before she did. Most of the night she spent awake desperately trying to distract herself without waking Aaron. His slow breathing was soothing, and drawing light patterns on his chest calmed her brain down enough to let her doze lightly. She never really fell asleep, but laying in bed with Aaron allowed her to relax in a way she wouldn’t have managed on her own.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>His alarm went off at seven in the morning. Norah estimated she’d napped for a couple of hours. She felt better and based on how Aaron didn’t coddle her, she must have looked better too. For a few minutes of the early morning they stayed in his bed, Norah drawing idle patterns across his chest. After a few hours of peace, Norah realized that a lot of her reaction last night had manifested because her anxiety had been high. She’d been noticing some of her nervous ticks and physiological response over the past few months but hadn’t realized that she’d left them virtually unchecked. This morning everything seemed far more surmountable and less overwhelming.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“How did you sleep?” Aaron asked not budging from his place laying on the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“About as well as I expected to, but I’m feeling a lot better.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Really?” he asked. Even though she wasn’t looking at him, she could feel his gaze boring into her head.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah. Really. I have the next few days off and I plan to spend them outside and continue to clear my head before seeing my therapist. I’ve gotten so busy that I’ve not been on top of my mental health like I should be, thus the intense reaction last night,” she replied. His hand covered her fingers that were drawing circle designs.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Do you remember how you told me that you could be a sounding board for me?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“The same is true for you, Norah. Don’t hold this in. If you need me, I’m here. If you just need your therapist that is fine too. But don’t think that this put me out in any way,” he said fiercely.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Thank you, Aaron.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I love you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I love you, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The thing about the holidays was that they were very emotional for a lot of reasons. She missed not being able to spend it with her family, the ER became exceedingly busy and frantic, and Norah loved Christmas so much. She would spend a whole weekend decorating her house and yard. She knew that only her neighbors and maybe Bethany would see it, but she loved it. Growing up decorating had been done the day after Thanksgiving and the whole family went absolutely nuts for it. December was one of the only cold months growing up, so when the crisp, cold air began to smell like firewood and pine needles Norah was always hit with the strongest wave of nostalgia.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Christmas scented candles were always lit at her home, a fact that Jack and Aaron had remarked on both times they’d come over to hang out. The first weekend of December Aaron was out of town for work. In order to give Jessica a break to run some errands and take time for herself, Norah took Jack for the day and together they decorated her exterior including setting up her obnoxious Santa sleigh. It was nearly as tall as she was with ostentatious reindeers. They also strung lights around the trees in her front years which is why they spent nearly two hours at the hardware store weighing the pros and cons of each type of light. When they were finally done, she and Jack sent Aaron a selfie with the decoration in the back. He called shortly thereafter.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Is that a giant Santa sleigh?” he asked. Norah laughed and put him on speaker phone.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Don’t be mean to my sleigh!” she said. Jack looked at the phone and said,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Dad, we spent </span>
  <em>
    <span>hours</span>
  </em>
  <span> choosing lights for her trees. It is going to look so cool!” He exclaimed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It does not surprise me you both spent hours looking for Christmas decorations at the store,” he sighed. After the school supplies shopping day, Norah had joined them a few more times for shopping trips all of which ended with her and Jack sitting on the ground trying to determine which product to purchase. Neither of them was humoring the other, they took the decisions very seriously and it drove Aaron nuts.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” scoffed Norah, making Jack giggle.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It is both of your most annoying qualities,” he replied giving them a dramatic long-suffering sigh. They heard some voices on the other end and Aaron say, “Yeah I’ll tell her. JJ wants a picture of it at night. Which means the whole team wants a picture of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“It looks good, Aaron,” Norah told him. “It looks so good we were talking about entering it into one of those Christmas light competitions.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Seriously?” he asked unimpressed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Don’t be such a grinch, dad,” Jack said, making Norah laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, don’t be such a Grinch!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m not being a grinch. You both are just </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> into Christmas,” he told them. “I have to go, but I love you both okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Love you too, Dad,” Jack said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Bye, Aaron,” Norah said, hanging up. “Okay, let’s go get some dinner and then we’ll see what our handiwork looks like at night and all lit up.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>It looked amazing and Norah really was half convinced to let Jack enter the house in one of those light competitions. Not long afterwards, she took him back to Jessica. On her way home she phoned her dad, after sending him pictures of the house lit up. They talked for a while and he managed not to bring up the fact she wouldn’t be coming to Texas for Christmas. She filled him in a little bit on Aaron and Jack. They talked about his DC branch which would be opening up in the spring. All things considered, she had a good weekend. The next weekend she and Aaron were supposed to have an elaborate date night on Friday, which for them meant dinner outside of either home and way more fun when they got back home. But Aaron was pretty certain they wouldn’t be back by then. It was a hazard of both of their jobs which meant either of them could be on call and forced to head to work at any given moment. She and Aaron had been dating for almost eight months at this point, which meant that there was a lot of their lives solidified into a routine. In an effort to help out Aaron and Jessica, she would pick Jack up from his soccer practice twice a week and keep him until Aaron or Jessica got off work. She became a fixture at his soccer games, because if Aaron wasn’t there she and Jessica almost always were. She’d even shared her work calendar with Jack so he would know when she was at work.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>That next Friday, Norah picked up an extra shift to cover for one of the doctors with a young family. Since her date night was ruined by a serial killer, she’d at least be able to help out someone at work. It was only a short six-hour shift from 8pm to 2am. It allowed her to get ahead of some paperwork for next week and deal with the crazy Friday night ER rush that inevitably happened. Around 11pm a patient was rushed in with a suspected heart attack, Norah was examining him when her pager started going off. Normally it beeped once and then she’d check it when she was done with a patient. If it was an emergency, the page would happen over the intercoms. Nevertheless, her pager kept beeping without stopping. Eventually she apologized to the patient and checked the machine. Harry, the charge nurse on duty, sent her a 911. She pulled in a resident to finish the examination while she went to see what Harry was so worried about. He looked relieved when she walked up to him.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What’s wrong? If it’s an emergency why wasn’t there a page over the intercom?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“You have a personal call. It sounds like an emergency,” he said, handing her the phone.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“From who?” Norah couldn’t figure out who would be calling her in an emergency at this time of night.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Someone named Jessica. She said you’d know her,” he replied.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Worried and still a bit confused, Norah took the phone. “Jessica what’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Is Jack with you?” she asked frantically. Norah’s stomach dropped.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“No, I thought he was going to Matt’s tonight with their friend Finn,” she said. He’d been talking about it all week.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I just got a call from Matt’s mom, they went to check on the boys before they went to bed and Jack wasn’t in his bed. Neither Finn or Matt know where he went.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What? He just left in the middle of the night?” she asked, surprised. Jack had a good head, and this seemed like an irresponsible choice.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He tried to call Aaron, but Aaron didn’t have his phone on him when he called. Jack didn’t leave a message.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Okay, let me call the other hospitals and see if there is someone matching his description. I can also contact local authorities and see if they’ll be on the lookout for him. We’ll find him, Jessica.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, yeah I know. Aaron is on his way back now. But his flight won’t land until 3am,” she said. “My husband and I are going to fan out from Matt’s house. Hopefully we’ll run into him. Can you stay on top of hospitals? Maybe he’ll come to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Absolutely. I’ll keep my phone on me. Text me with any updates and I’ll do the same,” she said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Harry was watching her with worried eyes. “Missing kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, my boyfriend’s son disappeared from a sleepover. Do we have any minors that are blonde, 5’5ft?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Two, but they both came in with adults,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Okay. Keep an eye out for me and I’m going to call the hospitals in the area. Can you get me the number for the police that sends us to the precinct? I’m positive Jessica already called, but I might as well flex my authority muscle somewhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Harry dutifully went to find the number while she began calling the other hospitals in the area. Despite the panic that was threatening to spill over, Norah kept a lid on everything even when the last hospital said they had no patients with that description. Harry called the police for her and they promised to send out a few patrols in order to find him. For now though, she had to sit and wait. She desperately tried to stay close to the phones, just in case but an emergency came in and she had to help stop bleeding before sitting aimlessly by the phone. She’d updated Jessica a few times and neither of them were having much luck. Well over an hour after Jessica called her, Harry paged her again. She managed to get the woman’s bleeding under control so the residents were able to handle the rest. Walking back out to the circulation desk she saw a large police officer and to her immense relief, Jack.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Oh my god,” Norah said, rushing up to him and hugging him tightly. “Jack you terrified us.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m sorry,” he said. “Norah I can’t breathe.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>She pulled away. “Right, sorry. Look, go back into my office down the hall, okay? I’m going to talk to the officer.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Are you his parent or guardian?” the cop asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“She’s dating my dad,” Jack said. “You can leave me with her.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Legally I can’t, son.” He said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“That’s fine, officer. Let me call his aunt. She’ll come down and pick him up. I need to call his dad too. Why don’t you both go back and wait in my office. You remember where it is, Jack?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah,” he said walking back with the officer.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah quickly called Jessica, “He’s safe. A cop brought him to the hospital. They’re sitting in my office right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Oh my god, are you serious?” Jessica asked. It sounded like she was going to cry. “We’re on our way. Can you call Aaron? I don’t think his flight left yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Absolutely. He’s my next call. I’ll see you in a bit.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>She hung up and dialed Aaron who picked up on the first ring, “Any news?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>He was using his FBI agent voice, which made Norah realize how nervous and stressed he was for his son. Norah nodded, but realized he couldn’t see her. “Yeah, he’s here at the hospital now. A cop dropped him off. He’s safe. Looks unharmed. I’m about to go check him out to make sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Oh thank god,” Aaron said. “Fuck, I’m so relieved.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Do you want me to see if I can get him to tell me what happened?” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, he might be more willing to talk about what happened with you than me or Jessica. I can talk to the cop if you need it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Probably will. He wasn’t keen on leaving Jack with me,” she said. She quickly walked back to her office and handed the phone to the officer. “I’m going to do a quick check up while you take that.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I think he’s scared of you,” Jack said when the cop left.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I think he’s well aware that you are the son of a very powerful and scary FBI agent. I’m small potatoes compared to your dad,” she said holding her stethoscope to his chest. “Want to tell me why you ditched Matt’s?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>She tried to keep her voice casual, but was aware she wasn’t doing a great job. Thankfully, Jack didn’t seem to notice. He just shrugged and said, “Felt like it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Hmm, not sure that’s gonna cut it, dude,” Norah told him. “Are you hurt anywhere?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I’m fine, Norah,” he said sharply.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>She leaned back and studied him. “You’re fine, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Well, I’m not going to force you to talk about it, but you have about twenty minutes before your aunt comes running, who very well will make you talk about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jack rolled his eyes and crossed his arms tightly across his body, “His mom was weird.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah rolled back in her office chair to grab a thermometer off her desk. “In what way?” She asked him, taking his temperature.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“She kept asking about my mom. Like a lot,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah’s brow furrowed. “What did she ask you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“She asked if Aunt Jess was my mom, but I obviously said no. So she asked what her name was and what she did and she just assumed she was alive. Even though I told her she wasn’t around anymore. Then she asked who you were and asked if you were my mom, ignoring that I'd already told her my mom wasn’t around anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“So when your friends went to bed you left?” she asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah I thought I would just head back to the apartment. It wasn’t that far away. Except the cop picked me up before I got home,” Jack shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Why didn’t you call Jess or me?” Norah asked him, writing his vitals down. She didn’t really need to do this, he was fine; however, she knew it was less intimidating to talk to her if she was doing doctor things and not staring down the young boy in front of her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“My phone died, but I’d already walked outside. I tried to call dad and let him know, but his phone went to voicemail,” he told her.           </span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah propped her chin on her hand and said, “I’m sorry Matt’s mom was weird, but can you see why we freaked out and called the police?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“I didn’t know that they’d check on us!” Jack protested. Norah placed a hand on his knee.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Jack, sweetie, I know. I know you didn’t mean to panic your dad and aunt, but your safety is one of their top priorities, so when they couldn’t find you for a second they got terrified,” Norah told him. “I’m not judging you, but I have a feeling your dad might put some new rules in place, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah okay,” he grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Why did you come here?” she inquired lightly, more out of curiosity than anything.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>He shrugged again, something he did when he was nervous, “Just knew you were working.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Do you want something to eat?” she asked, changing the topic.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Nah, can I go get a drink though?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“How about I get it for you?” Norah asked. “I need to go check on one of my patients and let Harry know to show your aunt back when she gets here.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>He nodded and sat back on her office couch. The officer handed her back her cellphone and by the look on his face, Aaron must have pulled a grand inquisition on him. Frankly, it wasn’t her concern. She quickly popped by a vending machine and grabbed Jack one of those Gatorades he liked so much, quickly dropping it off on her way to the intake desk. She told Harry to let Jessica back whenever she arrived and to page her. Despite the night’s adventures, she had to check on her patients, so she went through the tests that had come back and went by each patient updating them on their conditions. Her heart attack patient was doing well, but it looked like one of his arteries was blocked. She had called for a cardio consult for him and told him that he would most likely be admitted until his surgery. His heart blockage was dangerous. As she finished with him, her pager went off and so she walked up to the intake desk. Jessica wasn’t there but Harry gestured towards her office.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>When she walked in, Jessica had Jack held tightly in her arms. He looked uncomfortable, but he wasn’t pulling away. Norah gestured for Jessica to follow her into the hallway. She led Jack’s aunt down the hall a bit, far enough out of the way that Jack couldn’t hear what they were saying but not too far that they wouldn’t be able to hear if he needed something. The tense shoulders and worried frown on Jessica’s face just hinted at the stress she was going through at the moment. She was grateful that Jack was found so fast. Frankly, Norah couldn’t imagine putting Aaron or Jessica through that kind of torture. Something in her told her that Jessica needed a hug, so before she could second guess herself, she hugged Jessica who dissolved into sobs. While it was not what Norah expected, she held onto the women while she let the stress and anxiety out. Once she dried her tears she asked,</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Did he tell you why he ran?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah nodded, “Apparently Matt’s kept asking about Haley and didn’t get the euphemism ‘she’s not around anymore’ because she never let go of the subject. After his friends went to sleep, he wanted to go home but his phone died before he could call you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jessica rubbed at her chest, Norah recognized it as a way to regulate the nervous system. A lot of times family members going through grief did the action. “He thinks he’s so old, but he’s not.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, I don’t think he realized the gravity of everything. I’m just glad a cop picked him up. Look I get off at 2 this morning. Aaron sent me his flight information, so let me go pick him up and you can stay home with Jack okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, that would be good. Thank you, Norah. I felt better knowing that you were looking out for him too,” she said. Jessica fell silent then said, “For what it’s worth, I think Haley would like you. I think she’d approve too.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah felt her chest tighten. “That means a hell of a lot, Jessica. Go get Jack home, okay? I’ll let Aaron know you’ve got him.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Jessica gave Norah one last hug and went to pick up Jack. Norah texted Aaron giving him an update on everything and letting him know she’d be picking him up from the airport since his car was back at Quantico. The time was edging closer to one in the morning which meant that her shift was almost over. There was still plenty more to be done, so Norah did her best to complete everything necessary before she clocked out and went to pick up Aaron. It was a thirty-minute drive to Dulles so by the time Norah arrived Aaron’s flight was just getting in. She only waited at baggage claim for a few minutes before she saw Aaron rushing up to her. He dropped his bag and hugged her so tightly she thought she was going to bruise.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Thank you so much,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Aaron, I didn’t find him. They just brought him to me,” she said. He gave her a flat look.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Jessica told him you were on the phone with emergency response for most of the time he was missing. Did he tell you why?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, apparently Matt’s mom is a bitch you can’t take a fucking hint,” Norah replied with more venom than intended.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“What does that mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“She kept asking about Haley even after Jack said she ‘wasn’t around’ anymore. Apparently, she couldn’t get it in her head Jessica, nor I was his mother. She wouldn’t let up, so he decided to walk home. His phone died after he called you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“If I wasn’t so relieved that he was safe, I might kill him,” Aaron said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah grabbed his bag and they walked out to her car. During the drive back to his apartment, Aaron’s leg never stopped shaking. At one point during their drive Norah placed her hand on his knee, but all that did was make him grab her hand and continue shaking his leg. When Norah parked, Aaron rushed upstairs while Norah grabbed his bag. When she pushed open the front door, she found Jack crushed underneath Aaron’s embrace with Jessica looking on with teary eyes. She quietly shut the front door and put his bag in the bedroom. For the most part, Norah stayed away from their reunion not wanting to intrude. A few hours later, though, Jack was asleep, and Jessica had gone home. In the awkward situation, Norah cleaned up the kitchen and straightened up the living room which is where Aaron found her reading on her phone.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Thank you for everything tonight,” he said, collapsing on the couch. He swung his legs up over her lap and she rested a hand on his shins.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“No problem, seriously.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He told me why he asked to go to the hospital,” Aaron told her.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“He didn’t think you’d smother him, but apparently you hugged him so hard he thought you broke his ribs,” he told her with a ghost of a smile on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Yeah, he really didn’t understand why we were all so freaked,” she said. “But he’s home and safe. And that’s what's important.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“At least until tomorrow when I reign down a whole host of new rules on him. Can you stay tonight? I’m not sure how much I’ll sleep. And I think Jack would like to see you tomorrow morning,” he asked yawning. Norah nodded and suspected Aaron would fall asleep within the hour. She was right of course, but that meant she was stuck on the couch until Aaron moved or woke up.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>The next morning Aaron was woken up by the sunlight from the windows filtering through the blinds. He felt still and uncomfortable. After a moment’s confusion, he realized that he was laying on the couch. Norah had fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position mostly due to his legs being in her lap. Slowly, he moved off of her and tried to ease her down on the couch. Despite his stealth, she blinked her eyes open and was suddenly alert. She sat up rubbing her eyes. Her scrubs were wrinkled and there were dark circles under her eyes. Last night she’d been a godsend while coordinating with local emergency authorities. She’d even sent Garcia a text when Jack had been found in case he’d already been in the air. He realized that they were a good pair. She’d kept her head and managed to be a welcoming and non-judgmental space for Jack, something that his son desperately needed.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Why don’t I go out and grab some donuts and coffee?” she asked, yawning. He watched as she stood and popped her back. Before looking around for her keys. She kissed him softly before heading out and he realized he hadn’t even said good morning to her. Jack still wasn’t awake when she returned but he gratefully accepted the large, strong coffee.</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Can we talk for a moment?” Aaron asked. Norah looked concerned but nodded and sat down at the table next to him. “Have you thought much about where you want this to go?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Sure. I realized a couple months ago that it was very hard for me to see a future without you both in it. Whether that be marriage or something less official, I’m open to the discussion,” she replied shrugging. “I spent years trying to figure out what Peter was thinking and never sure. But you’re straightforward and upfront about everything. There’s no drama, but you’re here for me and Jack, even when you’re not physical here. You’ve checked the boxes, Hotchner.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Last night, or I guess this morning, you were pulled together. Without you, Jessica and I wouldn’t have been near as coordinated. It made me realize that not only do I want you in my life—our lives for a long time, but that we need you. Jack feels safe with you; he asked to go to your hospital to see you. And part of that is probably because they didn’t know where Jessica was, but that means he feels safe with another person. I’m not quite ready to make any big decisions, but I wanted you to know that you’re...it for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah smiled. “You’re it for me too. And I’m also not quite ready to make that whole commitment yet, so you don’t know how relieved I am that you’re in the same headspace.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>“Give me some credit, I wouldn’t propose hours after a deeply emotional night,” Aaron said, faux frowning. “I would at least have cooked you dinner at least.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Norah laughed, “Who says I won’t be proposing to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  
  <span>Aaron laughed, but a little bit of him was certain she wasn’t joking. But, he figured it really didn’t matter who did the actual proposing because spending the rest of his life with Norah sounded really nice. They complemented each other well: she was stable and reliable while he was headstrong and confident. Her surety convinced him that no matter where the future took them, she would be there with her farm animals and weird obsession with Christmas decorations. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I started back up at work this weeks which means I'm exhausted and only halfway through with the next chapter instead of finished with it like I'd hoped. The goal is to finish it this weekend and get it out next week sometime. So the end is near!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  <span>Norah was frowning down at Aaron as he sat in front of her on the small hospital bed in her ER. Aaron knew when not to say a word, thankfully. Any peep out of him would have resulted in a long tirade about not getting directly involved with violence and how being rushed into his own fiancee’s ER was a bit more than she could handle on a Tuesday afternoon. Nevertheless, Norah went about stitching up the small cut above his eyebrow and sending him in for xrays to ensure his cheek, clavicle nor arm were broken. He swore they weren’t, but the look Norah sent his way shut down his protests. Just a few weeks prior they had been sitting outside on her porch when he told her he was planning on retiring from the FBI. Jack was going into his sophomore year of high school now and Aaron didn’t want to miss the last few years he had with his son at home. On the same night Norah handed him a small cardboard box with a simple wedding band in it and asked if he wanted to get married while they were at it. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He cried. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He was only marginally embarrassed to admit that he cried. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Of course, he had planned to propose to Norah soon. He and Jack had the conversation and Jack was in full support, and Aaron knew that Jack loved Norah. She was always willing to sit down and explain any and all math or science concepts he ran across during his homework. Aaron could hardly compare to her understanding of math and chemistry. Later Norah had told him that she had asked Jack where his head was at, as well. They were both impressed at his ability to keep the other’s plans a secret. When Jack saw the engagement band on Aaron’s hand he said, </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“She beat you to it, didn’t she?” Jack asked smugly. “I knew she would.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What does that mean?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You were spending way too long trying to plan out the perfect engagement and she just tossed the box at you,” Jack laughed. He had a point, Norah had time for very little fanfare. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And you’re good with it?” Aaron asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“‘Course I am,” he replied rolling his eyes. “Aunt Jess has started asking when y’all are getting married. It’s been almost three and a half years. Do you have her ring yet?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, it was shipped yesterday.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“She’ll love it, dad,” Jack said earnestly. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Shortly thereafter, they moved in with Norah. Jack was delighted at the amount of time he could spend with the goats and chickens. Aaron would never say anything, but her house creaked and, as with any unfamiliar setting, it put him on edge. Nearly a month later, he was doing better, but the drive to work was brutal and he was grateful his last day was coming up. Although, if he was punched by a suspect one more time he might not make it to his retirement if Norah had anything to say about it. After a particularly harsh tug on the stitch he asked, </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Anything you want to say, dear?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She eyed him with displeasure and muttered, “Stupid fucking hero complex.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hero complex?” He asked. “Isn’t that the kettle calling the pot black?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The pot calls the kettle black,” she corrected, putting down her suture equipment and placing a bandage over the wound. “Regardless, I’m not the one getting assaulted during my day job.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You joke about how people bite you all the time,” he stated. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah, it’s a joke. No one has bitten me since like 2017,” she told him peeling off her latex gloves. He saw the small sapphire on her finger catch the hospital’s fluorescent lights. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Regretting asking me to marry you yet?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That better be a joke, Hotchner,” she grumbled. “Stay here. I’m going to go check on your x-rays.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Norah left the room and Aaron knew she was still rattled by the afternoon’s events. He’d been unfortunately caught in the middle of a brawl between two agents. He and Rossi tried to pull them apart, but Aaron only succeeded in getting decked by one splitting his eyebrow and giving him a nasty shiner. The agents were immediately horrified by the result and other agents managed to extricate them, but the left side of Aaron’s face throbbed unpleasantly. A few minutes later, Harry walked in and checked him for a concussion. That was one of the first things Norah did during her exam, but she probably told Harry to check again, just in case. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How pissed is she?” he asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“She’s not angry, Agent Hotchner. When she got the call that it was you, she was terrified.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Oh. He felt like he was swallowing a rock that sat heavily at the bottom of his stomach. Thinking back on it, he remembered her hands shaking while she took his vitals, normally a job for a nurse or resident. Harry passed him an ice pack, and Aaron held it against his face. Shortly thereafter Norah returned and Harry stepped out into the hall. He didn’t miss the small shoulder squeeze he gave her as he left. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No broken bones and no apparent concussion,” she said, throwing up his x-rays on the lightboard. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m sorry I scared you. I told them the ambulance was too big of a deal.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aaron, you were having trouble breathing. Of course they called an ambulance. You have two weeks left. I would really like you to not die during them, okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Norah I wasn’t even close to death. I got sucker punched.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“All I got from dispatch was your name and head trauma. Forgive me if it shook me up a little bit,” she snapped. Immediately, she sighed and her shoulders sagged. “Sorry.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He got up and walked over towards her and gave her a hug. She wrapped her arms tightly around his midsection. Lightly, he rubbed her back and held her for a moment, hoping to convey some level of security for her. The last thing he wanted to do was make her day harder. She worked her ass off for this hospital and for him and Jack. She deserved a long vacation at the very least. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“After my last day, why don’t we take a vacation. Jack can stay with Jess and we can go wherever you want. We can visit your family in Texas or visit Niagara Falls.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I thought we were doing Niagra for the honeymoon?” Her voice was muffled by his shirt. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How about Maine then. Sean said there’s whale watching. We could go visit the town that Moby Dick was based on. They apparently have a presentation on “the real story” whatever that means.” </span>
  
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Cannibalism,” Norah replied. “The real story has a lot of cannibalism.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That's...disappointing to hear,” Aaron replied, making Norah snort. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The whole story is even worse. But if we avoid Moby Dick, I would like Maine.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That settles it. In two weeks we leave for Maine.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Make it a month, I can’t put in vacation notice that soon.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“In one month we leave for Maine. I’ll handle everything.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you sure? You don’t have to do that because I freaked out on you just now,” she replied, pulling away slightly and looking up at him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Norah for the past three years you’ve been the most consistent person in my life. More than once you’ve gone above and beyond for me, so let me do this.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His last day at the Bureau was bittersweet. Morgan had left just a few months prior and Luke Alvez was fitting in well with the team, sans Garcia, but he expected nothing less from her after the way Derek left. He hadn’t mentioned anything to anyone except Norah, but he fully expected the two of them to at least attempt dating. When Morgan and Savannah got married there was an imperceptible shift in Garcia’s demeanor for a two week period and then, like it never happened, she bounced back and enfolded Savannah into her motley crew of friends. Norah had mentioned on the last girls night they both managed to attend, Garcia was nothing but kind and warm to her. Savannah had shared some hesitation with Norah at first, but once she realized that Garcia held no ill feelings towards her, their friendship blossomed and it started with making fun of Derek Morgan. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Aaron (and by extension Norah) was never sure if Garcia was actually into Morgan. Her cheery exterior was a difficult facade for most to see through. While Aaron thought he was well in the loop with his team, Garcia was always a bit more difficult to read than the rest of them. Sure, she wore plenty of her emotions on her sleeve, but the ones she kept hidden, they were impossible for him to suss out. He suspected Morgan could if he so chose to, but that was never shared with him. Garcia gave him a tight hug on his last morning and gave him a small gift bag only to be opened when he got home. Earnestly he looked at her and said, </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Garcia you’re the best of us.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>She went pink and stammered out a reply but was interrupted by Rossi entering the room pulling them both into the breakroom where Prentiss and JJ had put together a small going away party. He remembered staying up with Norah trying to figure out who he was going to recommend taking over the team. JJ was talented and had a backbone of steal, but she wasn’t willing to step up just yet. Rossi nor Reid had any interest. That left one other person, and he hadn’t been sure she would accept. He wouldn’t say that Prentiss jumped at the chance, but she took it under advisement and he was thrilled that a known entity was taking over his post. To his surprise, Norah was in the conference room talking to Reid and JJ when he walked in. Jack and Alvez were engaged in a serious game of, what looked like, tic-tac-toe, played with popcorn and pretzels. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We thought you’d want your family here,” Rossi said quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks, Dave.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>After Jack had thoroughly destroyed Alvez in more than one game of tic-tac-toe, Garcia herded their trio to sit at the conference table to watch a video montage she’d put together. Norah, who had really only been privy to the last few years of his, laughed at their antics on more than one occasion. There were a few pictures of he and Hayley and Jack when the team was first picking up steam, but more often than not it was full of selfies and videos captured over years of constantly working and traveling together. By the end Garcia was crying and JJ had her arm over the woman’s shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It won’t be the same,” she declared.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Change is the nature of life,” Alvez said sagely. Rossi snorted quietly when Garcia pinned him with a poisonous stare. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shut up, Newbie,” she replied dismissively. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m still around, Garcia. I’ll just be teaching instead,” Aaron told her. “Not to mention you come over to our house for a girls night at least once a month.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s true. But who will be so charmingly grumpy, now?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Norah snorted and hid her mouth between her hands. “Charmingly grumpy?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Am I not charming?” Aaron asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ha! Absolutely not,” she replied. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m with Norah on this one,” Jack replied. Norah grinned. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aaron, don’t worry about it. You’re still marrying a hot doctor,” Rossi stated. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks, Dave,” Norah replied, winking at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the party was filled with good-natured ribbing and memories. Garcia only cried one more time and right before he left, they all crowded together in his office and took one last picture. Norah and Jack helped him carry his stuff out to the car. He hoped his melancholy hadn’t been too oppressive, but this felt very final. He was leaving a job he loved and held for almost twenty-years; it was sad. But he was excited for the next thing. Teaching criminal law at Georgetown Law was going to be a nice change of pace and he was excited for it. It meant normal hours, time with his son and fiance. Dave told him to write a book, but Aaron didn’t think he was there yet. So as they put the office belongings into his car and that was it. All the paperwork had been signed previously. He’d turned in his badge and gun on his way out. For something so final, it felt like he was just leaving for the day. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Returning back home, to the house in the middle of nowhere, he knew that this sadness wouldn’t end anytime soon, but Rossi had already told him to come over for dinner the next day, so he didn’t imagine he would lose touch with everyone like his quiet fears said he would. Norah and Jack were at the grocery store, buying food for dinner while he went about planning his short vacation with Norah. She took five days off which would be more than enough to get up to Maine and have some time to themselves. It wasn’t that difficult to find a small house to rent and a list of a few things for them to do. Ideally, most of their activities would be bed related, but he knew that Norah loved exploring. So he booked a whale watching tour and a tour of some brewery he hoped was good. By the time Norah and Jack got back from the grocery store, their trip was planned out and Aaron found himself looking forward to a few days off with his fiance. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Maine was much colder than she was expecting, but it was beautiful. Aaron had only just pulled into their small cabin when it started to drizzle. The wrap around porch overlooked a beautiful woodland area and just over the tops of the trees she could see the blue tint of the ocean. Aaron had really outdone himself with the preparation. If she didn’t already have a ring on her finger, she would have assumed that he was planning to propose or make some undying declaration of some sort. The past few weeks, since retiring, Aaron felt lighter. While he was still stern and unyielding, he smiled more and seemed less bogged down by the weight of the world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without even noticing him approaching her car door, he pulled it opened for her and went to grab their bags in the trunk. Norah slung her work bag over her shoulder and grabbed Aaron’s from the backseat. Like a well oiled machine, he tossed her the keys to the cabin and she went to unlock the door. It was smaller than it looked on the outside, but was very clean. The whole cabin was just one room with a bed, small couch, and a kitchen. The real perk of the place was the extraordinary views and short distanced to Portland where they had dinner reservations in two hours. The door that let out onto the back of the porch was a simple glass sliding door and let in the gloomy light from the afternoon. Behind her, she heard Aaron setting down their bags and approach her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think?” He asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s lovely. How much time before we have to leave for dinner?” she asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“An hour and a half, or so,” he replied. “Why?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Norah wrapped herself in his arms and leaned up to kiss him. He was warm and comfortable. Being this close to someone five years ago would have sent her into a panic, but now she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. In a few short months she would be married again. Never explicitly, but for years after her divorce she assumed she’d never get married again. Peter, at the time, was the only person she could imagine being with. There was an unspoken hurt as to how quickly he seemed to move on from their marriage, but that came with the realization that he started the severance long before she did. With Aaron, there wasn’t that fear he would up and leave her without much warning. He was steadfast and honest. While he had a brilliant poker face and she wasn’t always sure what thoughts were flying through his head, she knew that he would inform her of the importance once, because he always did. His consistency was the only reason she hadn’t cut and run yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you,” he murmured against her lips, making her smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, too.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are you feeling about the wedding?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anxious,” she said, “Not to marry you or anything, I just had a big wedding last time and don’t want to deal with it again.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel the same,” he replied. “We could elope. It’s not like our families would be too upset. Sean wouldn’t care so long as we came to visit him with Jack.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first time Sean had met Norah was Thanksgiving before they’d moved in together. Sean and his girlfriend suddenly determined they wanted to spend Thanksgiving with Aaron and Jack who were planning on hanging out at Norah’s until she had to go to work. It turned into a really nice meal and a delightful evening. Afterward Sean and Norah connected based on her limited memory of bartending. She understood why Jack liked his uncle so much. In many ways he was Aaron’s opposite: outgoing, high-energy, and excitable. She and Aaron never had an explicit conversation about what his childhood was like, but it wasn’t hard to guess. Aaron spent most of his time protecting Sean, so he could become outgoing and sociable. It’s exactly what her sisters did for her. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think my younger sister would try to guilt me, but she eloped with her husband which means she can’t really argue. They got married in Scotland, which is never something I'll be able to top unfortunately.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Scotland is hard to top,” he agreed. Norah watched him closely. She could see the gears turning in his head as he mulled over their impending wedding. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What are you thinking about?” she inquired, lightly rubbing a thumb over his furrowed brow. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why don’t we just get married with week? I’m sure there’s a courthouse around her. We sign the paperwork and have a judge pronounce us man and wife.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We need a witness,” she reminded him, chuckling. Aaron shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m sure someone up here would do it for us. What do you say?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Norah looked at Aaron. He was wearing a small smile, typically only reserved for her and Jack. He didn’t look stressed or contemplative in any way, but held her tightly and looked expectant. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure. But let’s go to dinner first.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sounds like a plan.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next morning, waking up next to Norah, Aaron found himself filled with energy. They were getting married today and even though not much of their lives would change, it was an official step. No longer were they partners or significant others. He was about to marry his wife. He couldn’t remember the last time he was giddy, much less the last time he was giddy about romance. All things considered, the road with Norah hadn’t been built on undue hardship or trauma. Sure it had been slow and filled with a few missteps, but ultimately it led him here. Norah was everything he could want: headstrong, empathetic and unwavering. She took life in stride without ever losing herself over it. In her life she’d been through a lot, she’d been in warzones and trauma centers, she’d seen just as many terrible things as he had, but never lost her drive to be the best she could. Her relationship with Jack was a beautiful thing to watch. She understood him in ways that Aaron himself could not. He knew that since they’d both lost their moms--albeit in very different ways--she could understand the frustration and grief that Jack hid so well. She was smart and witty, challenging him in ways that few others had been able to before. And by the end of the day, he’d be able to call her his wife. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Morning,” she mumbled, shoving her face into the pillow. Despite all of her positive attribute, she was not a morning person if she didn’t have to be. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Morning sunshine, want to go into town for some breakfast before we do the boat trip?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ugh, five more minutes.” Aaron obliged, and pulled her against his bare chest and she snuggled into his embrace. “You’re so warm.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>That startled a laugh out of him which woke her up, much to her chagrin. Grumbling under her breath, Norah slowly ambled to the bathroom to get read for their day. Both he and Norah were dressed and ready within the hour, so they managed a quick breakfast and some coffee before showing up to their whale watching tour. While waiting for the boat’s captain to arrive Norah surveyed the rest of the couples and whispered to Aaron, “This is the whitest thing we’ve ever done.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You own goats.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Touche, Hotchner, touche.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Despite the very caucasain boating experience and the loud, chatty couple next to them. He and Norah managed to really enjoy their whale watching trip. Even though it had been barely visible, they had seen a whale skimming the surface. They even saw a few other sea creatures, which is how Aaron learned, well into adulthood, the ocean kind of freaked him out. If Norah noticed his strong grip on her hand she didn’t say anything, but continued to point out the various fish that swam near the boat. Last night, while discussing their wedding plans Norah suggested they write out their own vows. And standing next to her right now he knew exactly what he was going to say. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Thankfully, the boat returned to shore and Aaron felt the stability of land, for which he was more than grateful. Together they had a quick lunch and wandered around the town’s high street, picking up a few knick-knacks for various people and an ornate christmas ornament for themselves. Norah determined that she was going to start collecting ornaments to commemorate their marriage and their first one was a whale watching boat with the year engraved on it. After their shopping trip, it was time to return to their cabin and get ready. Frankly, Aaron was having a hard time controlling his excitement. Even though Norah was doing much better than he was, she would shoot him and an infectious grin whenever she caught his eye. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Their spur of the moment marriage decision meant that neither of them had fancy outfits to get married in. Despite that, as Norah stepped out of the bathroom, she managed to be one of the most beautiful women he’d laid his eyes on. She wore a long sleeved burgundy dress with tights. He managed to wear slacks and a sweater over one of his basic button up shirts. His closely cropped hair left little for him to fiddle with while waiting for Norah to pin her own back behind her ears. She grinned at him and right before they left he kissed her, wanting to ensure that she knew exactly how much he loved her. He, once more, felt in his pants pocket for the piece of paper that held his vows, just to triple (or maybe quadruple) check he still had it. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Their drive to the court house passed quickly. In three years and some-odd months they’d been together, there was little they didn’t know about the other. Aaron knew that despite the marriage, Norah had no intention of changing her name. This didn’t really bother him, especially since she was so set in her career. He knew that she wasn’t bothered, that she was essentially marrying a trophy husband, a joke that JJ enjoyed ribbing him with. It felt as though no time had passed between getting in the car and standing in front of the Justice of the Peace with their vows in hand. Aaron’s hands were shaking as Norah pulled her own vows out. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aaron, my first marriage ended with infidelity and divorce. They were painful to heal from and overcome. And yet within my first encounter with you it was easy to tell exactly who you were. You may not wear your heart on your sleeve, but you wear your character on display for everyone to see. You’ve been constant and affirming and encouraging. Every choice we’ve made, we make as a team. You support my career and with Jack, you made my house a home. Really, not much will change after this, but I promise to be your partner in all things. Especially in sickness, since I have a medical degree,” she joked making Aaron chuckle. “You’re my best friend and i can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Aaron cleared his throat and tried not let his voice crack. “Norah, you’re one of the most fearless women I’ve ever known. You face down tragedies each day and throughout your life have been in warzones and disasters. You never turn your back on those who need you. I haven’t had an easy life, and yet knowing that I’m coming back to you made each day bearable. Jack and I are so incredibly lucky to have you in our lives. I know he loves you, just as much as I do. Our lives have not been some grand, dramatic romance, but they’ve been filled with little promises and comforts. I can’t promise a grand romance. But I can promise that everyday I’ll be there waiting for you and I’ll do the same everyday after that.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>At some point after he finished the Justice of the Peace pronounced them man and wife. He vaguely remembered signing some papers and sending it away for a marriage license. But really what he remembered was standing outside the courthouse with Norah and saying, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad I married you. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, Aaron.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, too, Norah.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can we still go to Niagra Falls for a honeymoon?” she asked. He kissed her soundly, and laughed. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is it. This is the end of this story. I'm so sorry it took so long, but I started work again then I moved across the country for grad school. I'm glad I finished this story, though. I'm not sure how content with the ending I am, but as my thesis chair said, "A done thesis is a good thesis." so I'm applying that here. <br/>At some point I have a rough plan to write a vignette or two with Norah and Hotch, but until then here's a complete story. <br/>Thank you for your kind words and kudos! Wishing you all a safe rest of the year. &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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